Spirit Airlines CEO Received $3.8 Million Bonus Week Before Carrier Declared Bankruptcy

This might have been preplanned, but in the eyes of public perception, it still comes off as a bad look.

Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie received a $3.8 million retention bonus the week before the carrier filed for bankruptcy protection.

It was barely a month ago that Spirit announced job cuts and that it would sell some planes.

Christie has been the CEO since 2019. He owns a $2.5 million home in Fort Lauderdale near the Spirit headquarters. According to the terms of his contract, he is set to keep the bonus if he stays with the company for another year. That is in question, however, depending on the length of the bankruptcy.

The airline's stock price has fallen more than 90 percent since the beginning of the year.

Spirit is feeling the effects of the pandemic of several years ago and the shifting tides in consumer travel trends. At one point, Spirit had nine consecutive years of double-digit profit margins.

Then it all fell apart.

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