Continental Airlines Pays Profit Sharing To Employees
Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAI.B and CAI.A) will distribute 1998 profit sharing checks to its 43,000 employees on Friday, Feb. 12. These checks represent approximately 6.7 percent of employees` annual wages.
“Profit sharing is one of the reasons why Continental is among the best companies to work for in America,” said Continental`s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gordon Bethune, referring to the company`s recent ranking in FORTUNE magazine`s `100 Best Companies to Work for in America.` “We had a great 1998, and our employees deserve a piece of the pie.”
Continental recently announced an all-time record annual pre-tax profit for 1998 of $770 million, exclusive of previously announced fleet charges. This was the fourth consecutive year of record pre-tax profits at Continental.
Continental`s profit-sharing plan pays 15 percent of pre-tax net income and is divided among eligible employees based on their wages.
This is the fourth consecutive year that Continental has shared the company`s profits with employees. Since 1996, Continental has paid a total of more than $270 million in profit sharing.
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Additionally, Continental has paid more than $93 million in on-time bonuses to its employees over the last four years. In 1998, employees received $23 million in on-time bonuses. On-time bonuses are paid every month the company finishes in the top three of the Department of Transportation rankings, or achieves an 80 percent on-time performance.
“We have the best employees in the industry. They deserve to share in the overall success of our company,” said Greg Brenneman, president and chief operating officer.
On Friday, Bethune will congratulate employees with their share of the profits at the airline`s Houston headquarters and Bush Intercontinental Airport. Brenneman will hand out profit sharing checks at Newark International Airport and Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
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