Boeing’s good times may bring bonuses

SEATTLE — About 215,000 current and former Boeing Co. workers could find themselves with a summer bonus this year, if shares in Boeing stay at or near current levels.

The stock payout would be due under the Share Value Trust, a stock incentive plan created by former chief executive Phil Condit in 1996. Under the plan’s complex rules, non-executive employees who have been with the company since July 1, 2000, stand to receive the payout if shares in Boeing are trading above $44 as of June 30.

Shares in Boeing closed at $48.75 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange, having made substantial gains since early spring.

The amount of stock each worker would receive depends on how long that person has been with the company, and what the share price is on June 30. For example, a worker who has been with Boeing since July 1, 2000, would receive about $253 if the stock is at $46 a share, about $511 at $48 a share, and more than $1,000 at $52 a share.

This would be the first payout the plan has actually made, since shares in Boeing have never reached the required price on the right day. The payouts are possible on June 30 every other year.

The trust was created with $1 billion in stock on July 1, 1996. Another $700 million was added after Boeing acquired Rockwell and McDonnell Douglas.