United Promised to Halt “Lottery” Employee Bonuses, But Will They?
Jackie Reddy March 06, 2018
The ‘core4 Score Rewards’ program, which was unveiled last week by United president Scott Kirby, was criticized by the carrier’s staff. While Kirby said that good intentions were behind the program’s unveiling, he has announced that United has decided to “pause” changes to its rewards system.
Following heavy criticism from its employees, United Airlines has announced that it is dropping the controversial changes it recently proposed making to its employee rewards program. These changes, which were unveiled earlier in March as part of the ‘core4 Score Rewards’ program, would have seen United move from quarterly, performance-based bonuses paid to all eligible staff to a lottery-type system benefiting only a handful of employees at a time.
As shown by the employee comments reproduced on Inc., this new rewards program has been the subject of much negative feedback from United’s employees over the last few days.
In an internal memo to staff, Reuters reports that Scott Kirby, the carrier’s president, said that United would be “pressing the pause button” on any proposed changes to its reward program. “Our intention was to introduce a better, more exciting program, but we misjudged how these changes would be received by many of you. So, we are pressing the pause button on these changes to review your feedback and consider the right way to move ahead,” he said.
The carrier’s financial performance has been somewhat lackluster as of late and Kirby’s abrupt about-face comes just as the airline is struggling to placate both its employees and shareholders.
Commenting on the situation in a research note, Jim Corridore, an analyst with CFRA Research, said, “In what we see as the latest sign that United’s management still doesn’t ‘get it,’ numerous news reports say United is likely to eliminate its attendance and performance-based bonuses with a lottery system which will give a very few employees cash and prizes.”
However, a report from View From the Wing suggests that while the official report was that they had backtracked on the “lottery” bonus, an internal memo sent to United employees suggests that the program may just be on “pause” until a later date:
Dear United colleagues,
Since announcing our planned changes to the quarterly operations incentive program, we have listened carefully to the feedback and concerns you’ve expressed.
Our intention was to introduce a better, more exciting program, but we misjudged how these changes would be received by many of you.
So, we are pressing the pause button on these changes to review your feedback and consider the right way to move ahead. We will be reaching out to work groups across the company, and the changes we make will better reflect your feedback.
Appreciatively,
Scott
[Photo: Shutterstock]
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Gotta please the employees and gotta please the shareholders, above all! Never occurs to United to try to please the passengers, does it????
And United can easily be replaced by American, Southwest, Delta or discount carriers almost anywhere. Or for a nearby airport plus rental. Either way, they lost my business permanently.
Telling they left out customers...... The carrier’s financial performance has been somewhat lackluster as of late and Kirby’s abrupt about-face comes just as the airline is struggling to placate both its employees and shareholders.