Airlines, Tom Horton | featured news

A federal bankruptcy judge has at least temporarily blocked a proposed $20 million severance payment for the CEO of American Airlines as part of the company's merger with US Airways. The judge ruled Thursday that the proposed payment to CEO Tom Horton exceeded limits that Congress set for bankruptcy cases in 2005.

The subject of CEO compensation looks like it will get time under the microscope in American Airlines' Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. The U.S. trustee overseeing the bankruptcy case of American parent AMR has filed an objection to the $19.8 million severance package that current CEO Tom Horton is set to get when he leaves the company next year, according to Reuters. Also included in the objection are severance and retention payments slated for other company employees.

American Airlines CEO Tom Horton wants to set the record straight: It was he who approached US Airways CEO Doug Parker about the possibility of combining the two airlines, not the other way around.