United walks back bonus lottery system that upset workers

CHICAGO — United Airlines on Monday reversed plans to begin awarding employee bonuses through a lottery system that angered workers.

Scott Kirby, president of the Chicago-based airline that has a major Houston hub, said United was “pressing the pause button” on changes that would have handed out much larger bonuses — including vacations and luxury cars — but to only a fraction of its workers.

“Our intention was to introduce a better, more exciting program, but we misjudged how these changes would be received by many of you,” Kirby said Monday in a letter to employees.

Kirby said the airline would reach out to employee work groups and changes made would “better reflect your feedback.” Kirby originally announced the new lottery-style system — called “core4 Score Rewards” — in a note to workers late last week, according to employees and union officials. The lottery system was intended to replace a program that allowed each employee to receive a bonus of up to $300 per quarter if the company hit certain operational targets.

The core4 system called for a small number of eligible employees to receive prizes per quarter, including cash awards ranging from $2,000 to $40,000, luxury cars and vacations. A single employee would receive a grand prize of $100,000 under the plan, media reports said.

United has more than 80,000 employees, although not all of them are eligible for bonuses. United spokeswoman Maddie King said that front-line employees, those who deal directly with customers, and some members of management would be eligible for the bonus program.

King said the company doesn’t have a timeline for reevaluating the bonus program.

“Right now we are going to collect feedback from our employees to make sure we can create a new incentive program that will be meaningful to employees as we continue running a great operation and providing excellent customer service” she said in an email.