Judge nixes bonuses to top Hawker Beechcraft execs

(AP) A bankruptcy judge has nixed a proposal to give eight top Hawker Beechcraft executives up to $5.3 million in bonuses.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stuart Bernstein handed down on Friday his finding that the bonus plan sets the bar too low to qualify as anything other than a retention program for insiders.

Bernstein said nothing in his opinion is meant to denigrate their efforts or minimize their contributions to the success of the bankruptcy case. But he ruled the plan does not meet legal standards setting challenging goals for such bonuses.

The judge said he did not believe the bonus plan was "an appropriate exercise of business judgment."

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers had opposed it, as did the U.S. Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog agency.