Passenger Trains > Salaries of Amtrak executives

Annual salaries of some Amtrak executives:

Amtrak chief executive Joseph Boardman, $350,000

Gerald Sokol Jr., chief financial officer, $300,000.

Armando C. Silva, chief, operations research and planning, $230,000.

Michael J. Logue, chief safety officer, $210,000.

Mark Murphy, general manager of long-distance services, $205,000.

Polly Hanson, chief of police, $200,000.

Not a leak; a disclosure under the Freedom Of Information Act.

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140118_Amtrak_executives_make__200K_to__350K.html

My opinion: high but not excessive given the job they are supposed to do be doing;
but that only tells part of the story. The value of fringe benefits needs to be figured
in, too; and they are undisclosed. I don't think there is any concern over the value
of stock options since Amtrak itself says its common stock is worthless.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/14 19:24 by GenePoon.

Much lower than most other private corporations I have seen salaries for. And the top salaries seem to be in line with the top salaries at some major Government and Taxpayer funded Public Transit agencies before fringe benefits and kick-backs. So actually that seems as it could be quite reasonable before benefits given they oversee a National system rather than a transit system that serves one city or metropolitan area. Thank you for highlighting that information.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/14 19:48 by roadman3313.

Recent annual compensation packages of private health insurance company CEO's.

United Health Care $ 110 million
Aetna (retiring CEO pay) 67 million
Wellpoint (Previously Blue Cross) 13 million

Highest GSA-17 executive pay (should we go to a single payer health insurance system) $169,000

Roadman and Ashkicker, are you saying that these executives are worth that money?

I don't think so, but at least they're the CEOs of private corporations. Their shareholders can vote them out.

Amtrak is being allocated $1.5 billion in federal subsidies this year.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Annual salaries of some Amtrak executives:
>
> Amtrak chief executive Joseph Boardman, $350,000
>
> Gerald Sokol Jr., chief financial officer,
> $300,000.
>
> Armando C. Silva, chief, operations research and
> planning, $230,000.
>
> Michael J. Logue, chief safety officer, $210,000.
>
> Mark Murphy, general manager of long-distance
> services, $205,000.
>
> Polly Hanson, chief of police, $200,000.
>
> Not a leak; a disclosure under the Freedom Of
> Information Act.
>
> http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20140118_Amt
> rak_executives_make__200K_to__350K.html
>
> My opinion: high but not excessive given the job
> they are supposed to do be doing;
> but that only tells part of the story. The value
> of fringe benefits needs to be figured
> in, too; and they are undisclosed. I don't think
> there is any concern over the value
> of stock options since Amtrak itself says its
> common stock is worthless.


Let me guess, in your eyes they are grossly overpaid.

Let's see, our "Leader of the 'Free World' " gets a base salary of $400,000, a $50,000 expense account and great perks. However, the job is 24/7 even on the beach in Hawaii, it comes with a large target on its back and one false move may end the world. So, by comparison, I'd say that the president of Amtrak's dysfunctional system is over paid. Of course, guys making $110 million a year and up, are grossly over paid and will lead to the eventual collapse of our system--although they will be safe in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands, etc., when the sky falls on the rest of us.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/14 09:14 by railwaybaron.

OK, lets cut their salaries in half. Who could you get to take the job then?

Me, for one, and I would do a better job. I'm not a careerist, my end goal would be to run a railroad, not retiring to "Blue Heaven" at taxpayer's expense. First thing I would do is hire back Brian Rosenwald with a promotion.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/14 22:44 by railwaybaron.

railwaybaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Me, for one, and I would do a better job. I'm not
> a careerist, my end goal would be to run a
> railroad, not retiring to "Blue Heaven" at
> taxpayer's expense. First thing I would do is hire
> back Brian Rosenwald with a promotion.


I hear an air leak.

Clearly the current President's job isn't 24/7 when he's on a multi million tax payer vacation in Hawaii (the previous President only went to his own private ranch). I don't think the pay scale is out of line at all. What's out of line is the job the executives are doing for the pay they are receiving. If they were earning their pay, Amtrak wouldn't operate like a typical dysfunctional government agency. All the more reason never to go to a single payer health care system.

The biggest problem I have with private compensation is the amount they can collect for low/poor/no performance. Many but certainly not all government employees morph back and forth between the private and public sectors.

I know personally people that even with only 5-7 years with medicare can lead to a pretty nice private job. There are lots of secondary careers with a pension and then another. In Illinois it is not unusual for a city manager wit a good size city to retire and then take a less stressful job.

Bob

railwaybaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Me, for one, and I would do a better job. I'm not
> a careerist, my end goal would be to run a
> railroad,

Then you would not be the best candidate for the job. The purpose of Amtrak is to move people from A to B. An Amtrak CEO's goal should be to provide its customers with the best possible experience within available financial resources. The goal of running a railroad is best left to a Chief Operations Officer.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/14 06:16 by RuleG.

Yawn. Snore.

CEO of Amtrak has been a career pinnacle for many of its leaders. Successful in other companies (Claytor, Reistrup, Gunn, etc). I doubt they're doing it for the money.

Certainly not for the fun of the job (being yelled at by Congress, fighting with the unions who run the place, begging people to do their job, etc).

Gene:

Why such a fuss over Amtrak executive pay? I am sure that some union employees make almost as much with their overtime.

PS- Both deserve what they make !!!!

Bob

Best part of it is being able to hitch up an inspection car and take a trip...priceless.

By and large, public servants used to accept a lower rate of pay as compared to private sector. Some folks, believe it or not, actually like to serve, and they get satisfaction from doing so. This lower rate of pay relative to the privat sector was often in exchange for having job stability and security, cost-of-lkiving increases, etc., along with hospitalization insurance, guaranteed vacation and sick leave days, some government contribution to a retirement system, etc. Lately, these "benefits" have been a target of malicious budget-cutters, who have no regard for promises made in the past.

You are already seeing the same broken promises applied to veteran's benefits. It is tried and true...when the country needs you to fight a war, you will be told about all the good reasons you need to serve at low pay. Once the war is over, and folks have forgotten about why it was fought, veterans are left to live under a bridge. The services that were promised either become very hard to get, or the quality of the services is so poor that you would not want it. What has been done to the veterans in the past very shortly will be done to medicare and social security...no more COLA's, increasing costs and crummy quality for health programs.

Continued villification of the elderly, public servants, and veterans will take place by those who only want to harp about how much these programs cost, without consideration of the services provided and promises that were made. Afterall, the leadership that set up the programs and made the promises is now long-gone, and the group that replaces has no responsibility to honor the committments of past generations.

Is has really become important recently to break the backs of retirees, veterans, and public servants in order to achieve some impossible philosophical political goals, get airtime, and more campaign money funnelled into their coffers by large corporate donors with vested interests. Sad that the people who do this aren't sent back to whatever holes they crawled out of.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/14 09:07 by NewRiverGeorge.

Gene:

Wow, you are tireless in your efforts. Posting Amtrak executive salaries is an obvious attempt to get the rest of arguing; because asking people if "the other guys" salary is "too high" only invites judgment calls of the worst kind.

Happily, most of us, by now, are wise to your usual intent--which is to denigrate Amtrak in any way possible. Judging by most of the replies to your post, most of us didn't fall for it this time.

Nice going, fellow fans!

Joe

Did someone hear an air leak?...Well then lead, follow or get out of the way. Gen. George S. Patton

What is the intended meaning of "air leak"? I honestly don't know. English translation, please.

Joe

My old car has no leaks or air. If i want air bags and gas leaks go for a ride with my in-laws