Her Boss at United Got $3.2 Million. She Got Shoved Out the

[dbaker]

Her Boss at United Got $3.2 Million. She Got Shoved Out the Door.

Two people recently lost their jobs at United Airlines.

The first was Sheila Adams, 48, a flight attendant making $22,000 a year. In the days following the September 11 attacks, when no one would fly, she got on the planes to keep United in the air. When they furloughed her on October 31, the company gave her 90 days of health and travel benefits, $744 in severance pay, and the promise that sometime in the next six years she might get her job back.

The second was Jim Goodwin, 57, United's CEO, who made a base salary of $900,000 a year and by many counts utterly botched the job, enraging unions and launching a disastrously failed bid to buy US Airways. In the days following the attacks, Goodwin cut 19,999 employees in addition to Sheila Adams. Then he wrote the rest a letter basically informing them that the company was doomed. Forced to resign by the board of directors, Goodwin walked out the last week in October with three years of health benefits, a company car, a country club membership, and a severance package topping $3.2 million.

[dbaker]

Her Boss at United Got $3.2 Million. She Got Shoved Out the Door.

Two people recently lost their jobs at United Airlines.

The first was Sheila Adams, 48, a flight attendant making $22,000 a year. In the days following the September 11 attacks, when no one would fly, she got on the planes to keep United in the air. When they furloughed her on October 31, the company gave her 90 days of health and travel benefits, $744 in severance pay, and the promise that sometime in the next six years she might get her job back.

The second was Jim Goodwin, 57, United's CEO, who made a base salary of $900,000 a year and by many counts utterly botched the job, enraging unions and launching a disastrously failed bid to buy US Airways. In the days following the attacks, Goodwin cut 19,999 employees in addition to Sheila Adams. Then he wrote the rest a letter basically informing them that the company was doomed. Forced to resign by the board of directors, Goodwin walked out the last week in October with three years of health benefits, a company car, a country club membership, and a severance package topping $3.2 million.