Royal Caribbean Cruises executives have volunteered to take temporary salary reductions as the company faces unprecedented losses amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As of 1 April, chairman and chief executive officer Richard Fain has agreed to forego payment of his $1.1bn base salary through the third quarter, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Chief financial officer Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean International chief executive Michael Bayley and Celebrity Cruises chief executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo have voluntarily taken 25% paycuts through 30 September.
"These reductions were made in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the negative financial and operational impacts resulting therefrom," the filing said.
The company's board of directors have also passed up cash retainers and fees for board and committee service during the same period.
The New York-listed cruise major and publicly traded peers Carnival Corp and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings have attained billions of dollars in extra credit while their share values plummet amid mass fleet layups.
Royal Caribbean, which has drawn down $3.3bn in recently acquired credit to pay its bills, declined to comment further on the voluntary, temporary pay cuts.
The executive salary reductions may not affect the company's earnings per share (EPS) performance, but they do send a positive message to furloughed workers, Infinity Research analyst Assia Georgieva said.
"The executive and board pay cuts, while immaterial to EPS, are a sign of solidarity with furloughed employees, most of them shipboard crew on idled vessels, with some shoreside employees affected as well, especially those on a contract/consulting basis," she told TradeWinds.
Miami-based Royal Caribbean has reportedly given temporary layoffs to 800 contractual employees but the company would not confirm or deny that reported figure.
Still making millions
Fain, Liberty, Bayley and Lutoff-Perlo will still make millions of dollars in salary this year, since the pay cuts affect only their base salaries.
Fain received a base salary of $1.1m last year but made another $11.3m in awards and stock bonuses, SEC filings show.
Liberty earned $788,462 as a base salary but came away with another $3.97m in awards and bonus pay.
Bayley's base pay came to $870,769, while his award and stock payout totaled $4.85m.
Lutoff-Perlo got $688,462 in base pay and another $3.15m in awards and bonuses for 2019.
Carnival and Norwegian did not return calls seeking comments on executive pay.
