United Airlines is planning to do away with its quarterly performance bonuses for employees. The airline will replace the employee bonuses with a new program called ‘Core4 Score Rewards.’
The new rewards program is a lottery-style drawing with prizes that include cash, cars and vacation packages. There is also a $100,000 grand prize which will be awarded each quarter to one eligible employee.
This new program will benefit only a few people who win the lottery while the rest of the eligible employees will not receiving any rewards for their contributions.
The Core4 program was formed after the horrific passenger-dragging incident with an intention to boost United’s image as a caring airline. The new lottery plan, which is part of this program, was expected to create excitement and a sense of accomplishment.
However, the initial response to the announcement of the program has not been exciting at all. It has, in fact, led to a widespread discord among the employees of the airline. This lack of harmony and satisfaction is not likely to create a caring environment.
United Airlines said it would offer other incentives along with the lottery and that this new program will not have any impact on its profit-sharing program.
At a time when United Airlines is frequently in the news for unpleasant reasons, one wonders if this is indeed a wise step.
In a separate incident earlier, a United Airlines flight from Virginia to Washington experienced severe turbulence due to bad weather, which led to the entire flight ‘throwing up.’
All passengers aboard Flight 3833 suffered a rough landing after being hit by a powerful storm, and almost everyone including the crew threw up. Even the pilots came close to falling ill.
However, no one needed medical attention due to the incident.