Alaska Airlines will pay out $327 million in annual bonuses to its 23,000 employees. The record-setting bonus equates to about six weeks worth of additional pay, the airline said.
These bonuses ‒ part of the carrier’s Performance-Based Pay (PBP) program ‒ will be distributed to employees of Alaska itself and its Horizon Air regional subsidiary. Despite the 2024 merger, Hawaiian Airlines employees are not included as part of the payout.
“I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all our employees for their dedication in helping us deliver another strong year. Their commitment to excellence, care and service sets us apart,” Alaska CEO Ben Minicucci said in a news release.
The carrier calls its PBP program “unique” in that it goes beyond a traditional profit sharing model. “It aligns all employees with the same goals … In addition to profit metrics, we work as one team toward goals around safety, fuel efficiency, and guest experience,” the airline shared in the release.
Employees will also receive $22.7 million in 2024 operational bonuses for achieving quarterly on-time performance and safety goals. The total payouts will be nearly $350 million.
“Just a year ago after flight 1282 which resulted in one third of our mainline Alaska fleet being grounded and our operations severely disrupted, we were uncertain how the rest of the year would unfold,” the release added.
Other Airline Bonuses
Delta ‒ which has long been a profit sharing leader ‒ is set to give its over 100,000 employees $1.4 billion in bonuses next month. This boils down to an average of five weeks of additional pay per employee, or around 10% of their eligible earnings.
United is also set to pay roughly $584 million in 2024 profit sharing.
