PANDEMIC PAYOUTS

Boeing’s CEO Got $21 Million Last Year After Laying Off 30,000 Employees

The CEOs of Hilton and Norwegian Cruise Line received similar compensation even as their companies tanked because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The CEO of Boeing received $21.1 million in compensation last year even though the company lost $12 billion and laid off 30,000 workers amid safety woes and the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times reports. One of Boeing’s flagship aircraft, the 737 Max, was grounded for the majority of 2020 after two crashes that killed hundreds, and news subsequently broke of the company’s own active avoidance of safety protocols. The coronavirus pandemic also sent jet sales spiraling as travel tanked worldwide. Similar discrepancies occurred at other companies during the year of COVID-19: Hilton’s CEO Chris Nassetta received $55.9 million in compensation despite a loss of $720 million and layoffs that hit 25 percent of the company’s corporate staff. Norwegian Cruise Line increased its CEO’s pay by 100 percent to $36.4 million even as the company lost $4 billion and furloughed a fifth of its employees amid a total freeze of the cruise industry. Worldwide, billionaires saw their fortunes soar during the pandemic even as economic crises devastated millions.