NOT FIRED:
American Airlines Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Doug Parker ended his contract with the world’s biggest carrier, switching his employment status to “at will” to match that of the company’s 100,000 workers.
The move, effective Thursday, was disclosed by American in a U.S. regulatory filing Friday and in a letter from Parker to the carrier’s employees. It means he isn’t guaranteed a set level of compensation and benefits, nor is he protected from a change in control at the company or covered by severance provisions, according to the filing. The change occurred at Parker’s request.
“To be crystal clear, just because I don’t have a contract doesn’t mean I intend to leave American soon,” Parker said in the letter. “Rather, it is just another way of demonstrating how much I enjoy what I do, my excitement about our future.”
“Nothing about having a contract felt like a shared commitment to working together,” he wrote. The employment agreement provided protection “against a number of things I don’t think I should be protected against,” including being fired or if unhappy shareholders gained control of the airline’s board.
The move is the second major voluntary change made by Parker since becoming chief executive as American merged with US Airways in December 2013. Last May, Parker gave up the cash portion of his compensation and switched to being paid only in stock. At that time, he joined just four other chief executives at companies within the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index who earned $1 or less in cash annually.
Parker told employees when he made the switch that it reflected his confidence in growth opportunities at American. While the airline reported record profit for 2015, the shares have tumbled 27 percent since Parker gave up his cash pay.
