From the Board of Directors Meeting
The US Airways Board of Directors made several decisions related to the governance of the company at a meeting today in Prattville, Ala., in conjunction with the US Airways annual meeting. Those actions include:
Approving a compensation package for President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce Lakefield that was designed to be in line with CEO compensation at low-cost carriers Air Tran, America West, JetBlue and Southwest. Lakefield's base salary will be $425,000, which is the median base salary of the CEOs at AirTran, America West, JetBlue and Southwest. He has been granted 760,000 shares of UAIR stock that will vest over a four-year period, split between restricted stock (62 percent) and options (38 percent). He will not have an employment agreement and will be an "at will" employee serving at the pleasure of the Board of Directors. However, in the event of a change in control of the company and he is terminated, Lakefield would be eligible for the equivalent of three years base salary and bonus.
Lakefield will be eligible to participate in the management incentive compensation and long-term incentive compensation programs, but has declined any participation until such time as the company is profitable. He has also elected not to participate in the senior management's defined contribution retirement plan or 401(k) match. Overall, his total compensation package and stock grant are lower than the CEOs for all the other low-cost carriers that were used in the comparative analysis.
