Yes exactly. Remember, this is a payout, based on performance, not a salary. If the airline had gone down, he wouldn't get comparatively much beyond his base salary - only an incentive to stay while the airline wound down, as approved by the judge. Hostess CEO I think got $200K bonus to wind down Hostess in an orderly manner, instead of leaving.

So if someone had done a better job, say avoided the merger, wiped out all the debt, remained independent, and exited bankruptcy, then I would have expected a bigger comp package like you mentioned. That person probably would get a Jack Welch type package, as well as a page in corporate history.