Boeing paid out annual bonuses totaling $418 million to about 68,000 eligible employees in Washington state last month.

That’s down from $513 million paid to 64,000 employees a year earlier.

Companywide, this year Boeing paid out a total of $1.2 billion in annual bonuses to more than 154,000 employees.

Last year, about the same amount was paid to 143,000 employees

This year’s bonuses average just over $6,100 pretax in Washington state and about $7,600 pretax companywide.

Boeing determines the size of the bonuses based on both company and individual performance metrics. Each year management sets targets higher than the previous year’s performance.

For all white-collar staff, the metrics determining the bonuses paid this year were 75% financial: cash flow, profits and revenue.

However, with Boeing plunged into crisis following the Alaska Airlines door plug blowout in January, management announced internally earlier this month that the bonuses paid out next year will instead be weighted 60% on quality and safety metrics.

During an all-employee webcast, Boeing Chief Operating Officer Stephanie Pope — now newly appointed chief executive of the Commercial Airplanes unit in addition to her COO role — said this shift in the future bonus structure is “very, very important to drive the outcomes that we’re all committed to, and that’s to deliver a safe and quality product to our customer.”

For the bonuses paid last month however, the metrics were chiefly financial, all of which last year were significantly better than the previous year, though coming in below the goals set by leadership.

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