Amtrak executives receive bonuses

[dadonatrain]

Great news if you’re an Amtrak exec. Maybe not so much for the rest of us?

 

[pennyk]

NYT article: Amtrak Rewarded Executives With Six-Figure Bonuses as Rail Service Struggled

Amtrak Rewarded Executives With Six-Figure Bonuses as Rail Service Struggled

Most of the top leaders received bonuses above $200,000 in the last fiscal year, as Amtrak worked to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

“Stephen Gardner, who became Amtrak’s chief executive this year, has received more than $766,000 in short-term incentive bonuses since 2016.Credit... Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg”

If the bonus is going to be paid regardless of performance is it really a bonus or just salary? I know answer just makes you think how messed up compensation packages for upper management are in general.

 

[joelkfla]

Unlocked copy:

Amtrak Rewarded Executives With Six-Figure Bonuses as Rail Service Struggled

Most of the top leaders received bonuses above $200,000 in the last fiscal year, as Amtrak worked to recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Ragman]

Bonuses to execs regardless of performance is the American way.
We see this almost weekly in business publications

 

[PaTrainFan]

If Amtrak was a publically traded company I'm not sure where it would rank, but among Fortune 500 executives that's chump change.

 

[jis]

If Amtrak was a publically traded company I'm not sure where it would rank, but among Fortune 500 executives that's chump change.

Yeah. A little over 100K per year. That is in the middle management territory and does not even get close to typical executive territory.

 

[Amtrakfflyer]

Amtrak paid $2.3 million in executive bonuses in 2021 despite lower revenue, ridership - Trains

NEW YORK — Nine Amtrak executives received bonuses of $200,000 or more in 2021 despite lower ridership and revenue in the wake of the COViD-19 pandemic, after none were awarded in 2020, the New York Times has reported. Six people received bonuses of $200,000 or more in pre-pandemic 2019. There...

www.trains.com

 

[jis]

Sounds a bit sub par for the course in the industry if you ask me. With that sort of incentive they got Gardner as CEO. Absent that who knows if they would even have a CEO? The contract superannuated CEOs from the transport industry in the recent past were if anything worse.

 

[lordsigma]

On certain other boards unsurprisingly this is generating the typical outage - but at the end of the day in the private sector for large size firms for a CEO this is peanuts. And bonuses are typically contractual so long as you meet metrics.

 

[Exvalley]

Agreed that this is peanuts. Hearing the complaining about these modest bonuses is ironic given the frequent complaints that Amtrak needs to attract better talent when it comes to management.

 

[jis]

Agreed that this is peanuts. Hearing the complaining about these modest bonuses is ironic given the frequent complaints that Amtrak needs to attract better talent when it comes to management.

I agree with you. I do find some of this belly aching somewhat over the top.

 

[zephyr17]

The performance metrics for bonuses need to be adjusted to include car availability and customer satisfaction scores at the very least.

With the right metrics in place Amtrak executives should be able to earn larger bonuses while actually improving the passenger experience.

 

[danasgoodstuff]

Bonuses? They should be docked for doing a bad job. Seriously, pay whatever you need to get good people (although I'm not sure that's the key ingredient to getting good people) but don't hand out bonuses when things aren't going well.

 

[danasgoodstuff]

Bonuses to execs regardless of performance is the American way.
We see this almost weekly in business publications

It's certainly not unique to Amtrak, but it looks particularly bad here.

 

[dlagrua]

I always thought that bonuses were only given for above par performance but it sometimes doesn't work that way as we see with Amtrak. When I was in sales and marketing if sales went down so did your salary not to mention that your job may have gone away too.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

It may not be that bad in a country famous for an obscene imbalance between worker wages and executive compensation but Amtrak brass have done nothing to bring people like me back to Amtrak. Everything that has improved seems to have come from congressional pressure. Whatever metrics Gardner is crushing appear to have nothing to do with my enjoyment, my satisfaction, or my desire to travel on Amtrak. Looks like the bigger issue is the board that sets the metrics in the first place.

 

[west point]

On certain other boards unsurprisingly this is generating the typical outage - but at the end of the day in the private sector for large size firms for a CEO this is peanuts. And bonuses are typically contractual so long as you meet metrics.

But metrics can be picked to maximize management meeting the selected metric. IMO that is why the emphasis on the NEC. Not enough LD items to manupilate.

We must note the quick action when the Albany building problem became an issue.

 

[lordsigma]

The problem with the term bonus is it automatically sounds like “good job here’s some extra money” but in some executive compensation packages it’s a major part of your compensation (in some cases more so than your base salary.) So the problem with the term bonus is bonuses sound like here’s a bonus for outstanding work where in some cases it’s more you need to meet this standard to get the compensation we’ve agreed on or you’re only going to get this. Perhaps there’s better ways of doing things but bonuses are a massive part of executive compensation and sometimes it’s more of just ensuring your exec meets a minimum standard rather than awards for outstanding performance or on the other hand it’s if we have a terrible year revenue wise we won’t be able to pay you as much. At the end of the day the total compensation is well below industry standards. The terms “base earnings” and “conditional earnings” might be more appropriate.

 

[Acela150]

Reaction from the rank and file is far from positive. And I understand why.

 

[20th Century Rider]

Ya gotta spend those taxpayer dollars on something... give it to the top brass. Regardless of their job performance. And Amtrak ain't doing well or are we missing something???

Meanwhile the little people such as myself struggle with medicare and social security... and keep shelling out those nasty co-pays to supplement what insurance there is.

 

[Trogdor]

Reaction from the rank and file is far from positive. And I understand why.

On the other hand, you’re probably not going to find a single large corporation out there in this country with tens of thousands of public-facing employees where the rank and file have positive feelings about executive compensation.

 

[Michigan Mom]

These execs do not deserve bonuses. They are abusing their employees and customers.
EDIT: Also, having worked in the airline industry, I reject wholeheartedly this notion that lavish salaries and bonuses are required to "attract talent." That line got started when the gulf between worker and exec pay started spiraling out of control.

 

[Acela150]

On the other hand, you’re probably not going to find a single large corporation out there in this country with tens of thousands of public-facing employees where the rank and file have positive feelings about executive compensation.

I definitely agree with your statement. However the main reason why the rank and file are ticked is pretty simple. The union contracts have expired and the negotiations aren’t going to well according to the rumor mill.

 

[cirdan]

About the line , top bonuses and salaries are required to attract top talent . I’m asking here and not saying and I’m. It saying it’s not true but seeking to understand better . But have there been any studies that support or negate that. Do otherwise comparable companies do better when they pay top management better rather than paying their rank and file better . Surely that shouldn’t be too difficult to break out statistically seeing the large number of corporations that exist and should bestow some statistical objectivity