Northwest CEO defends management bonuses MINNEAPOLIS (AP) =97 In a company newsletter, the chief executive of=20 Northwest Airlines defended the payment of management bonuses as the=20 company asks the rank-and-file for cuts in wages and benefits. In the=20 letter sent Friday, Richard Anderson explained that "it is critical that we= =20 retain a knowledgeable, experienced leadership team." Anderson was=20 responding to criticism from union workers who are upset that the company=20 paid bonuses to hundreds of Northwest managers while it asks the union to=20 accept cuts. Executives only get performance pay if they meet or exceed=20 their targets, Anderson said. Since some met or exceeded their targets in=20 2002, the airline was obliged to give them performance pay. But it cut that= =20 pay way back, effectively reducing expected incentive compensation by about= =20 60 percent, he said. "No team is going to be competitive with a roster full= =20 of rookies," Anderson said. The Eagan-based carrier lost $1.2 billion=20 during the past two years, and top executives are meeting with employee=20 unions to request cuts in labor costs. In late February, the company said=20 it wants to cut pilot costs by $2.76 billion over the next six-and-a-half=20 years. Union leaders said Friday they don't think their members will buy=20 Anderson's rationale. Jim Atkinson, president of Local 33 of the Aircraft=20 Mechanics Fraternal Association, said, "It was the rank-and-file employees= =20 who made it possible for Northwest to achieve the goals he's referring to.= =20 Does he think the executives operate the airline on their own?" *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************