After Employee Uproar, United Pauses Plan to Give Out $100K

Employees revolted against idea of losing bonuses in favor of lottery
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2018 8:47 AM CST
United Airlines Quickly Pauses Plan to Give One Worker $100K
In this Sept. 9, 2015, file photo, a United Airlines jet lands at Newark Liberty International Airport.   (AP Photo/Mel Evans, file)

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and hell is what United Airlines employees raised following Friday's announcement that the quarterly bonus program would be replaced with a lottery. "Our intention was to introduce a better, more exciting program, but we misjudged how these changes would be received by many of you," said United Airlines President Scott Kirby on Monday in announcing a "pause" on implementing the new lottery, which was to give away $100,000, Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans, and other cash and vacation prizes.

The New York Times reports that in 2017, employees earned roughly $87 million in bonuses, though that includes amounts earned by executives; the lottery system, which would benefit just 1,361 winners out of roughly 86,000 employees, would have cost about $18 million, meaning United potentially stood to save millions. A comment from a United flight attendant picked up by the Chicago Business Journal suggested the savings would be about $32 million per year. (More United Airlines stories.)

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