DEARBORN, Mich., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- Ford Motor Co.'s North American head said Thursday he would give up his free use of a company plane to fly home to south Florida from Detroit on weekends.
Mark Fields told employees in an internal broadcast he asked Ford to remove the perk from his employment contract, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Fields had been widely criticized, including by dealers, for using the company jet when the struggling automaker is trying to make up for a projected $4.5 billion in 2006 North American losses out of a total $7 billion overall loss last year.
The Detroit-Florida flights cost Ford $214,479 in the fourth quarter of 2005, the one period Ford has disclosed. The full cost for 2006 is likely to be made public later this year.
Fields was put in charge of Ford's largest business sector in October 2005. His compensation that year was $3.2 million, including a $1 million bonus to take the job.
