Bosses at travel giant Tui under pressure to cut salaries after asking UK taxpayer to pay 11,000 of its staff
Bosses at travel giant Tui were under pressure last night to cut their salaries and ditch holiday allowances after asking the UK taxpayer to pay 11,000 of its staff.
Chief executive Fritz Joussen and his senior team have pocketed £34.3m in pay, bonuses and perks in two years.
But in an extraordinary statement, the FTSE250-listed company stood by its decision to keep their rewards intact, saying they were already making a ‘financial contribution’ in the crisis.
Joussen’s staff will take a 20 per cent pay cut, with the remaining 80 per cent covered by the Government’s Jobs Retention Scheme.
Tui has also taken £1.6 billion in cash loans from state-owned German bank KfW. Savers are taking the pain from the collapse of holiday bookings, caused by the pandemic, as bosses signalled there would be no dividend until Tui has paid back the loan.
Tui’s shares have plunged 60 per cent this year, leading to its relegation from the FTSE100 last month.
Joussen’s stance means he will still pick up his £965,000 salary, contributions to his pension pot and other top-ups of over £500,000, and perks including £15,000 to spend on a chauffeured car.
Joussen also receives two all-expenses paid family holidays and is eligible for up to £6.2m of performancerelated bonuses – although the final figure is likely to be much less.
Tui executives bagged £27.6m in pay packets in 2018 and £6.7m in 2019, despite failing to hit bonus targets. Joussen took home £1.57m, which could be set to rise this year despite the pandemic.
Labour MP John Mann said: ‘It’s amoral and there will be a day of reckoning for bosses who don’t get the severity of this situation. Pressure will be put on shareholders to get rid of them.’
The Mail has been campaigning for bosses to take pay cuts and cancel bonus schemes.
Among those heeding the call are Topshop boss Ian Grabiner, ITV’s Dame Carolyn McCall and WPP’s Mark Read. In total around £25 billion of dividends have been this year.
Tui told the Mail on Sunday it ‘expects’ bosses will earn no bonus this year because it will miss ‘challenging’ targets.