Staying on as a paid consultant is typical for CEOs. Terms vary but most go from 1-5 years. Part of the thing called a Golden Parachute. Do well - get rewarded. Do poor - still get rewarded.

He took Pinnacle from the back waters of the Mississippi delta and made them a player. Along the way he rewrote the book on extracting maximum cost efficiencies from an already dried turnip, suffered two fatal accidents due to crew deficiency and dragged out contract negotiations for what has to be a new record - six years! While Pinnacle could be argued to have flourished under his tenure, I'd hardly say he was a good CEO. I think he was out of his league personally. He went to Pinnacle from Lonestar airlines. They had about 10 turboprops and went Tango Uniform 10 years ago. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Now they need Shockey to go.

Trenary and Shockey never seemed to promote the best and the brightest. Only safe yes men who would tell them what they wanted and needed to hear. Anyone of worth scared them and either moved on or were booted.