Doug Steenland steals $2.6 Million for 2006...

[whaledriver]

NWA CEO earns $2.6M in 2006
Tuesday May 1, 12:39 pm ET


Northwest Airlines Corp. CEO Doug Steenland received compensation valued at $2.6 million last year, while the company restructured under bankruptcy protection.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Steenland's pay included a base salary of $516,384, down about 10 percent from the year before when he got $571,354. He also received $994,146 in long-term cash award programs, and $297,353 in perquisites and other compensation.

In the filing, Eagan-based Northwest (Pinksheets: NWACQ - News) also said that managers took a 15 percent cut in their base salaries in December 2004, and another 10 percent cut in December 2005, after the carrier filed for bankruptcy protection.

Also, the filing detailed that executives' outstanding stock options will be canceled when the carrier emerges from bankruptcy protection, which is expected in June.

Published May 1, 2007 by the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

 

[Kev3188]

A true hallmark of leadership would have been to to what Lee Iacocca (sp?) did at Chrysler, and not taken any compensation-or something symbolic like $1.00-until NW was in the clear.

 

[finman]

A true hallmark of leadership would have been to to what Lee Iacocca (sp?) did at Chrysler, and not taken any compensation-or something symbolic like $1.00-until NW was in the clear.

Even so, he earned and deserves every penny. His leadership during his tenure has been worth more than $2.6M per year to NWA in economic value, so he certainly didn't "steal" anything.

Simple fact of life, executives get paid a lot more than the rest of us because they are the ones making the strategic decisions that make or break a company. As such, people with the ability and intellect to lead and make these decisions successfully can demand a much higher level of pay than non-executive employees.

I don't understand why this keeps on being a topic of conversation; it wreaks of class envy and ignores basic principles of free market economics.

 

[Kev3188]

Even so, he earned and deserves every penny. His leadership during his tenure has been worth more than $2.6M per year to NWA in economic value, so he certainly didn't "steal" anything.

Is this a wind up?

Simple fact of life, executives get paid a lot more than the rest of us because they are the ones making the strategic decisions that make or break a company.

No argument there. And some of those execs deserve every cent. Steenland does not.

I don't understand why this keeps on being a topic of conversation;

Because of it's absurdity.

it wreaks of class envy and ignores basic principles of free market economics.

Continuing to pay someone who helped get NW in this mess it was/is in, ignores common sense 101 *and* economics, and you know it.

If Steenland is/was such a visionary, he should have had the moxie to structure his compensation to be more or less incentive based entirely. If his "leadership" paid off, more power to him, and you wouldn't have heard a peep from me.

 

[jenny@nw]

it wreaks of class envy and ignores basic principles of free market economics.

I presume you are in the same class in order to be making such a statement.

(Hey you guys, it's Gary after all! )

 

[robbedagain]

Even so, he earned and deserves every penny. His leadership during his tenure has been worth more than $2.6M per year to NWA in economic value, so he certainly didn't "steal" anything.

Simple fact of life, executives get paid a lot more than the rest of us because they are the ones making the strategic decisions that make or break a company. As such, people with the ability and intellect to lead and make these decisions successfully can demand a much higher level of pay than non-executive employees.

I don't understand why this keeps on being a topic of conversation; it wreaks of class envy and ignores basic principles of free market economics.

He does not earn every darn penny he is the reason why NWA is in a disasterous shape its in. He forced one union out without a day of negogiations brings in a bunch of bumbling idiots who cant fix a darm simple thing on a plane, slices employees pay and benefits, but yet he finds a way to get 2.6 mill into his pocket what a crock of horse sh!t that is it is time for a he!! of a revolution against mgmt big compensations and their brutual attakcs on the work force

 

[NewHampshire Black Bears]

He does not earn every darn penny he is the reason why NWA is in a disasterous shape its in. He forced one union out without a day of negogiations brings in a bunch of bumbling idiots who cant fix a darm simple thing on a plane, slices employees pay and benefits, but yet he finds a way to get 2.6 mill into his pocket what a crock of horse sh!t that is it is time for a he!! of a revolution against mgmt big compensations and their brutual attakcs on the work force

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Well.."robbed"...your right, ..AND how we all can begin to change that, is to go into the voting booths, on the first tuesday in Nov/08, and pull/push ANY lever/button...EXCEPT..the one with the letter..."R" !!!


NH/BB's

 

[exnw]

Even so, he earned and deserves every penny. His leadership during his tenure has been worth more than $2.6M per year to NWA in economic value, so he certainly didn't "steal" anything.

Simple fact of life, executives get paid a lot more than the rest of us because they are the ones making the strategic decisions that make or break a company. As such, people with the ability and intellect to lead and make these decisions successfully can demand a much higher level of pay than non-executive employees.

I don't understand why this keeps on being a topic of conversation; it wreaks of class envy and ignores basic principles of free market economics.

Steeland's base 2006 salary was 526,304 which was down
10 percent from previous year. His "long term cash awards"
and "other perquisites" totaled 1,291,499 more than
doubling his annual salary. That is an insult to every
employee who took their pay cuts for the year. Contract
and other management employees will NOT be receiving more
than double their annual salary for 2006.

You can claim all the free market economics you want but
why does Steenland keep referring to the SACRIFICES all
NW employees have made. He obviously considers himself
to be exempt from the sacrifice.

 

[finman]

I presume you are in the same class in order to be making such a statement.

(Hey you guys, it's Gary after all! )

Of course I'm not; I just don't sit around whining about how much other people make. I choose to focus on my own situation and make the necessary steps to take care of myself and my family. I admire successful people, not loathe them (or in most cases, veiled envy).

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Well.."robbed"...your right, ..AND how we all can begin to change that, is to go into the voting booths, on the first tuesday in Nov/08, and pull/push ANY lever/button...EXCEPT..the one with the letter..."R" !!!
NH/BB's

Then, instead of fighting a known threat to our livelihood like islamic terrorism, we can divert all of our efforts to fighting made up threats like global warming and executive compensation.

 

[jenny@nw]

Of course I'm not; I just don't sit around whining about how much other people make. I choose to focus on my own situation and make the necessary steps to take care of myself and my family. I admire successful people, not loathe them (or in most cases, veiled envy).
Then, instead of fighting a known threat to our livelihood like islamic terrorism, we can divert all of our efforts to fighting made up threats like global warming and executive compensation.

Well then I put you in a different light. I never understood people whining about that sort of thing either, except I do wonder about comparable compensations- like perhaps the European counterparts making less than the American ones. It makes the American CEO's look like thieves.
Fair?
Ethical?
I suppose we as a culture got use to heavily compensated CEOs and don't say much about it, unless pointed out as in this discussion. Is there any checks and balances needed here? Who knows... I suspect this will be going on for years to come... and the rich get richer because they know how to invest instead of pissing it all away like poor people. Am I being hyporcirtical?