Some top Midwest executives received performance bonuses MILWAUKEE (AP) =97 Top executives at Midwest Airlines have accepted wage= cuts=20 as they promised, although they received bonuses based on the company's=20 previous performance. Timothy Hoeksema, company president and chief=20 executive officer, received a $25,803 bonus as an installment payment tied= =20 to the company's performance in 1999, according to documents filed with the= =20 Securities and Exchange Commission reviewed by the Milwaukee Journal=20 Sentinel. Hoeksema's annual salary was $337,754 in 2002, down from $342,000= =20 the year before and $355,500 in 2000. At least twice he has accepted=20 voluntary pay cuts, while in 2002 and 2001 he also accepted bonus payments= =20 =97 totaling $51,606 =97 for previous-year company performance, the= newspaper=20 reported. Wage cuts have been a key part of the company's efforts to return= =20 to profitability after two consecutive years of losses. No executives have= =20 received bonuses for the company's 2002 performance, said Carol Skornicka,= =20 senior vice president and legal counsel. In the airline industry, executive salaries and compensation have been a=20 hot issue lately. Last week, American Airlines angered its labor unions=20 after the unions learned of a plan to pay the airline's top six executives= =20 bonuses equal to twice their salaries if they remained with the company=20 until January 2005. The unions also were upset about the creation of a=20 trust that guaranteed parts of the pension plan for American's 45 top=20 executives in the event of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. American has=20 since rescinded its bonus plan, but the pension trust apparently will stay= =20 intact. Midwest doesn't have such a trust to protect its executive pensions= =20 from bankruptcy, Skornicka said. And executive bonuses paid since 2000 have= =20 been installment payments based on the company's previous performance in=20 1998 and 1999, she said. In 2002, two of Midwest's five top executives had= =20 higher salaries compared with their salaries the year before. Thomas Vick,= =20 senior vice president and marketing officer, received a base salary of=20 $214,173, compared with $147,597 in 2001. But Vick worked only nine months= =20 for the company in 2001 after being hired in April of that year. David=20 Reeve, senior vice president-operations, earned $171,000 in 2002 compared=20 with $169,685 in 2001. The increase in pay for Reeve could be explained by= =20 additional non-cash compensation, Skornicka said. "None of our executives have received a salary increase since March of=20 2000," she said. Midwest pilots recently accepted wage cuts of 9 percent=20 and 5.75 percent for captains and first officers, respectively, from April= =20 16 through Nov. 1. Midwest Connect pilots are still negotiating temporary=20 wage concessions as they attempt to reach an agreement on a new contract.=20 No contract talks are currently scheduled, union officials say. *************************************************** 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.pscutt.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************