Willie Walsh says $1.35 million bonus ‘inappropriate’ after T5 debacle 20 MAY 2008: You might want to sit down for this…in today's greed based business climate it's quite a change. British Airways boss Willie Walsh has turned down a £700,000 (CAN $ 1.35 million) bonus. Walsh said it would be inappropriate to accept the award given the chaos that occurred as BA moved over to Heathrow’s Terminal 5.
BA's reputation took a major hit and the travel plans of thousands of passengers were disrupted when the airline moved to Heathrow’s Terminal 5 in March. More than 20,000 bags were lost and 700 planes were cancelled in the debacle. Many passengers are still fighting for compensation.
However, because the airline achieved a 45% increase in profits to £883 million ($1.6 billion), under his pay and perks package, Walsh is entitled to a maximum bonus of 100% of his salary if he hits a series of targets.
The BA chief’s sacrifice equals about £35 ($68) for each of the pieces of luggage lost during the shambles of the move. The airline's other 42,000 staff – will receive bonuses worth an average of £800 (CAN $1,543) per employee.
Walsh's gesture was applauded by even his most severe critics, who said it put to shame other industry leaders who have been willing to accept rewards for failure. Union leaders said that while it was not yet time to canonise him as "St Willie", it was a move that other bosses should emulate.
Walsh 46, a former pilot, insisted there had been no pressure "whatsoever" from other BA board members for him to forgo his award.
"I felt in the context of the disappointing opening associated with Terminal 5 that it would be inappropriate for me to take a bonus despite the excellent financial performance of the company."
He said he would not be quitting because of the Terminal 5 problems, "I accept responsibility for getting things wrong. But that means we have got to put things right.
"Me stepping down or stepping aside doesn't in any way help to do that. My focus has been to fix the problem. I apologise sincerely to anyone who suffered disruption during those first few days. We let down a lot of customers."
"I have a big difficulty with people who are afraid to admit mistakes.” Said Walsh, “If you don't admit your mistakes, you can't learn from them. And I can assure you, we have learned an awful lot."
Industry experts believe his bonus gesture has won Walsh an 18-month "probationary period" provided there are no more disasters.
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