Flag carrier Finnair has announced its board of directors has given a collective thumbs-up to "long-term incentive plans" drawn up as part of a strategy to restore profitability.
The "performance criteria" for the plans, Finnair said in a January 23 statement, are its earnings (EBIT) margins between 2023 and 2025.
"The cash-based staff incentive plan 2023–2025 covers all those personnel groups who have contributed with savings agreements in the reduction of the company's unit costs, which is one of the key actions of the strategy. The other incentive plan is share-based, and its participants include the Finnair Executive Board as well as other management and experts," Finnair explaind
“The restoration of Finnair's profitability after two significant successive external crises has, thanks to the entire Finnair team, got off to a good start, as demonstrated by the company's third quarter 2022 results," said Jouko Karvinen, chairman of the board.
An early 2026 cash payout awaits, should the plan prove to be a success.
While passenger traffic was up around 38% annually in December 2022, Finnair's efforts to return to pre-pandemic operations have been derailed by the invasion by Russia of Ukraine, which has led to the carrier having to fly long detours to reach Asia given its proximity to and, in earlier times dependence on, crossing Russia's vast airspace.