United Airlines Pauses Lottery for Bonuses After Employees Rebel Online
In response to the lottery plan, an online petition called “Make United Airlines Great Again” surfaced on Change.org last week, drawing more than 1,000 supporters,
but it was closed a couple of days ago by the person who posted it, who is identified online only as “N A.”
It featured a letter addressed to the United Management Team written by Laurie Vesalo, a flight attendant,
who referred to the lottery as a “deplorable new system that only rewards an elite few.”
Ms. Vesalo told that she did not create the petition and that her letter had been intended for internal company use — not a public complaint
By CHRISTINA CARONMARCH 5, 2018
Faced with a backlash from employees, United Airlines said Monday it was “pressing the pause button” on a plan to replace its modest monthly bonuses with a lottery system
that would have offered large rewards to a few workers at random.
Last week, an internal United Airlines memo, first obtained by The Chicago Business Journal, announced
that the company was doing away with a performance incentive program that awarded workers up to $375 for each quarter that the airline met operational goals.
Under the lottery system, just 1,361 employees would receive bonuses, according to the United Airlines memo,
and only one would be chosen for the top cash prize of $100,000.