Horrifying.

Menke is smarter than this. I think something has changed. Hopefully a long-term Q400 deal?

Ok bk is on the way and it is a cash grab.

So he went from 250k to 675k. A raise of 425k. Spanjers raise was 125k. So these two guys took home a combined raise of 550k. Why would these two guys get a bigger raise than the entire salary of the man who's duties they are now doing? This is a sad case of the golden rule: Those with the gold make the rules.

Pinnacle Airlines Corp. has approved hefty raises for its CEO and his right-hand man in the midst of a struggle to stave off bankruptcy.

Pinnacle’s board raised CEO Sean Menke’s base salary $250,000 a year, to $675,000, and it gave chief operating officer and executive vice president John Spanjers a $125,000 bump, to $400,000.

The announcement came in a regulatory filing after markets closed today with Pinnacle at $1.32 a share, up 2 cents.

A company statement said the top two executives will shoulder heavier workloads after the March 30 departure of chief financial officer Ted Christie. It said a comprehensive restructuring has increased both men’s duties beyond the scope of previous employment contracts.

Pinnacle, which operates feeder flights for Delta, United and US Airways, launched an effort last December to shed costs, boost revenues and keep its planes flying without going into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The company has about 650 employees in its Downtown Memphis headquarters and about 8,000 companywide.

The company previously asked its unions to take 5 percent pay cuts and said non-union employees would also have their pay cut.

Menke, who helped guide Frontier Airlines through bankruptcy, was hired last June to succeed former president and CEO Phil Trenary.

“The challenges facing Pinnacle today are more complex than when Mr. Menke joined the company a year ago,” a Pinnacle statement said.

“Pinnacle’s multifaceted restructuring activities along with the pending departure of the company’s CFO have significantly increased Mr. Menke’s responsibilities. “

Christie is becoming CFO of Spirit Airlines, an up and coming discount carrier.

“In light of the increased responsibilities, our board of directors elected to increase his compensation package,” the statement continued.

“As Mr. Menke’s responsibilities for Pinnacle’s restructuring activities increase with the departure of the company CFO, Mr. Spanjers is being asked to assume additional responsibilities related to leading the ongoing operations of the airline. The board adjusted Mr. Spanjers compensation accordingly.”

Spanjers, formerly president and chief operating officer at Pinnacle’s Mesaba Aviation unit, was named vice president and COO of the parent company last October.

The amended employment agreement says Menke’s base salary for bonus calculation purposes would remain at $425,000 a year, and that he won’t be entitled to long-term incentive plan cash awards based on 2012 results.

Pinnacle spokesman Eric Epperson said the action recognized it will take time to replace Christie.

“We’re still in the thick of this restructuring,” Epperson said.

© 2012 Memphis Commercial Appeal. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

They bumped it 250k. He was at 425k.

It is all a sham, this is BS, and they want employee concessions. HA!

Disgusting. Take as much copper wire out of the house before it burns down. What a hero.

They have obviously given up on concessions, they took all they could from all the employee groups they could (froze mechanic's pay) and the plans they have are already set in motion. This company is a joke, I hope Delta pulls out every last 200/900 within days of the BK announcement.

A company statement said the top two executives will shoulder heavier workloads after the March 30 departure of chief financial officer Ted Christie.
Now they will have to interview outside consultants to guide the company through restructing.

This means one of two things. Menke has given up on voluntary concessions and has decided to make as much money as possible before filing BK when the company will be under court supervision and will use BK to impose reductions on employees.

OR

He has been able to negotiate changes to our agreements that will allow the company to make money and employee concessions are not needed to go forward.

I'm hoping its the latter, but my gut tells me its the former. If that is the case, I will be dissappointed to see Menke decide to force concessions from employees while taking pay increases. It will do nothing but create ill will among the employees, which is not good for a customer service business.

If it was the latter, the press release would be about his huge success and his raise would only be mentioned as a footnote.

As his raise is subject of the whole article, I fear the former is true.