Monday, a bankruptcy judge will consider the request of Republic Airways Holdings Inc. to pay up to $4.69 million in bonuses to a handful of top executives.

The airline, which sought bankruptcy following a pilot shortage, asked for permission to pay the bonuses saying the executives have “the greatest influence upon Republic’s financial performance and chances of success” in the restructuring.

Republic’s incentive program aims to reward executives based on the company’s operating income and performance measured by the percentage of scheduled departure flights that actually depart, excluding weather-related and other non-carrier controlled cancellations, as well as on-time arrivals.

Republic filed for bankruptcy protection in March with plans to restructure around its Embraer regional jets and cut certain carriers from its operations. Among the challenges that led to its bankruptcy is a pilot shortage that other regional carriers have struggled with. The company was unable to find enough pilots due to the relatively low starting salaries and new rules by U.S. regulators that require aviators to have additional training.