The departure of Andreas Otto, who most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer at Austrian Airlines, continues to cause annoyance within the workforce. The background is that the manager has exorbitantly high demands in the course of his premature termination of the contract. It costs the AUA more than one million euros.
The Supervisory Board, chaired by Christine Foerster, already fixed the details of the termination of the cooperation with Andreas Otto by circular resolution. Although he terminated himself, Austrian Airlines has to pay him more than one million euros, reports the courier. According to Lufthansa regulations, the former board member would have been "retired" in two years' time anyway.
The Kurier thinks that the early exit was financially more attractive for Andreas Otto, because the requirements of the German Economic Stabilization Fund will only fully apply in the current financial year. Accordingly, claims can be asserted in the event of early termination of the contract up to December 31, 2020. And that's exactly what Otto is supposed to have done, according to Kurier. Now an agreement is said to have been reached, which says that he will get the remaining contract period and the bonuses paid out. In the summer of 2020, the bonuses that the Executive Board granted itself immediately before the state aid was paid out caused a political earthquake. Only after pressure from Finance Minister Gernot Blümel (ÖVP) was this paid back and a deferral agreed. Not a single AUA board member has completely waived.
Within Austrian Airlines, the financially expensive departure of Andreas Otto is causing quite a bit of resentment, because the company is supposed to refuse amicable termination of contracts for normal employees and urge employee resignations, but pay the remaining contract term plus bonuses for said board member despite resigning himself. That causes incomprehension.
Austrian Airlines and Lufthansa actually have a ban on bonuses. This is related to the use of state aid. According to Kurier, the supervisory board is now working intensively on a solution how this can be circumvented. A possible incentive plan that provides for payment in the form of shares is indicated in the report.
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