Delta Air Lines CEO Gerald Grinstein said this week that he is refusing any stock, stock options or cash when the carrier emerges from bankruptcy. Grinstein, who has led the United States’ No. 3 airline since January 2004, said he wants Delta instead to invest what he would have gotten in post-bankruptcy bonuses, to be used for scholarships and emergency hardship assistance for Delta employees, families and retirees. Under a post-bankruptcy compensation plan unveiled Monday, Grinstein could have been expected to net about $10 million, including such bonuses, over about three years.

Commentary: We don’t advocate CEOs giving away what they have earned, and we don’t believe that this will be part of a greater trend. All the same, it is quite impressive and will certainly be motivating to employees at Delta – as it heartedly demonstrates that for many CEOs, it’s not all about “show me the money”. Ironically, this is at the same company where virtually the OPPOSITE philosophy was demonstrated by the former CFO of Delta who steered the company’s finances from 2000-2004, including the allegedly disastrous decision to sell off their fuel hedges just as oil prices began to spike (Delta filed for bankruptcy in 2005). This former CFO, who was paid millions during her tenure as well as provided a bankruptcy-proof pension, earned wooden ear awards from Delta’s employees for being the only executive to file a challenge against Delta’s petition to the bankruptcy court for relief from their benefit obligation to provide 1st Class Travel for Life.