Spirit AeroSystems’ board of directors adjusted the formula for bonuses to certain Spirit officers f0r the company’s 2008 performance under an annual incentive awards plan. The company released the information in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Spirit’s board adjusted the formula to mitigate the impact of an eight-week Machinists strike at Boeing on Spirit’s financial results, the filing said.
That meant Spirit president and chief executive Jeff Turner received $853,416 in bonuses instead of $526,800.
The Boeing strike was beyond the control of Spirit management, the SEC filing said. The company had been on track for awards equal to about 121 percent of target levels. So the board gave credit for the 121 percent rate for the first eight months of the year and a zero percent rate for the last four months to arrive at 81 percent of target levels, the SEC filing said. Without a strike, the company had been on track for Turner to receive $1.28 million in an annual bonus.
The eight-week Machinists’ strike at Boeing hit Spirit’s financial results and led to three-day work weeks for the majority of Spirit workers.
The disclosure of the bonuses has riled some hourly workers who work under a contract with provisions that did not trigger a bonus payout. They note they worked shortened work weeks but did not receive incentive awards.
According to the filing, Spirit chief financial officer Rick Schmidt received $560,520; John Lewelling, general manager of Spirit’s wing segment received $364,500; Ron Brunton, chief operations officer, received $543,873; and David Walker, head of sales and marketing, received $189,398.
