American Airlines CEO Tom Horton One Step Closer To Free Lifetime Travel. Oh, And $20 Million

American Airlines’ CEO, Tom Horton, moved one step closer to receiving the $20 million severance payment he’s negotiated with the bankrupt airline.  On Tuesday, the bankruptcy judge hearing American’s case allowed the payment to stay in the airline’s disclosure statement (approval of the statement is a predicate step to ultimately “reorganizing” and exiting bankruptcy).  The approval comes over strenuous objections by the U. S. Trustee, who argued that Horton’s payment violated bankruptcy law.  The judge’s decision isn’t final, and the issue can be revisited down the road, but the fact that it stayed in the disclosure statement (and will be presented to the airlines’ creditors for approval) is one more hurdle cleared for Horton. 

We’ve written about this payment here, here, and here.  And, no, we don’t write about it so much because we’re jealous of the substantial payment Horton may receive; it’s what this case says about severance and golden parachutes generally.  Although the lifetime of free travel he and his wife would also receive under his severance agreement is, frankly, kind of cool.  

• Bankruptcy
• Change-in-Control Provisions
• Executive Compensation
• Severance Agreements