British Airways chief's sky-high pay hits turbulence as it's revealed Willie Walsh gets paid 147 times the average employee at airline group
Jackpot: Willie Walsh is in line to receive £6.4million in pay and perks
A row over the pay of British Airways boss Willie Walsh and a plan to give free flights to former board members has blown up after it was revealed the Irishman gets paid 147 times the average employee at the airline group.
Willie Walsh is in line to receive £6.4million in pay and perks which is 623 per cent of his base salary for his work last year at International Consolidated Airlines Group, the owner of BA and Spanish airline Iberia.
Shareholder adviser Pirc labelled Walsh’s pay ‘excessive’ and called on shareholders to vote against the rewards at the annual general meeting today in Madrid.
Pirc criticised IAG’s policy on future payouts because the total potential jackpots are 500 per cent of salary.
It said a three-year period to measure Walsh’s performance to qualify for the ‘long-term incentive plan’ – where he receives shares in the company – was not long-term enough. Walsh’s share award will net him £3.64million which is based on a period since 2012.
A proposal to give former non-executive directors the right to fly for nothing was also met with disapproval.
Deborah Hargreaves, boss of the independent think-tank the High Pay Centre, said: ‘We think [long term incentive plans] should be phased out. Bonuses should be paid in cash only. Awards based on share price do not always reflect the work of the chief executive. For example, quantitative easing [the Bank of England’s money-printing programme] has lifted share prices.’
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IAG spokeswoman Laura Goodes said Walsh’s bonus is based on the strong performance of the group in 2014 when he returned Spanish airline Iberia to profit after six years of losses. The share award covers a period where IAG’s shares have risen more than 220 per cent.
A resolution to introduce free flights for non-executive directors has been brought in to align former BA non-executives with others on the board. IAG shares fell 8.5p to 493.5p.
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Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-3128798/British-Airways-chief-s-sky-high-pay-hits-turbulence-s-revealed-Willie-Walsh-gets-paid-147-times-average-employee-airline-group.html#ixzz3dWps2XGh
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