The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that Air Canada, whose stock performance lagged its peers last year, gave its top executives bigger bonuses for 2023 after the company blew past its internal profit targets. The Globe's David Milstead writes that chief executive officer Michael Rousseau received a $2.6-million bonus, up from $2.28-million in 2022. The bonus was part of his overall $12.08-million pay package. That was down from $12.38-million in 2022. Three other top Air Canada executives received bonuses ranging from $576,000 to $816,000 -- 30 per cent to 50 per cent higher than their 2022 bonuses. That led to increases in total compensation ranging from 20 per cent to 30 per cent. Air Canada caused a firestorm in 2021 when it revealed it had scrapped its performance-based bonus structure during COVID-19 and replaced it with a plan that paid executives and managers $10-million in "pandemic-mitigation bonuses." The airline made the awards as it negotiated a $5.9-billion federal rescue plan. Ultimately, senior executives gave back $2-million in bonuses. The board set a 2023 profit target of $493-million for the bonus plan. The airline closed the year by posting $1.71-billion in adjusted net income.