United Airlines is in its generous era, with a deal offering 13% off flights just in time for superstar Taylor Swift's return to the United States.
03.04.2024 - 20:01 / skift.com / Scott Kirby / United Airlines / Meghna Maharishi
United Airlines’ top executive saw his salary nearly double in 2023.
United CEO Scott Kirby, who is routinely one of the most highly paid airline executives in the U.S., made nearly $18.6 million in 2023, according to a proxy statement United filed Tuesday night. The year before, Kirby raked in around $9.8 million, and his pay was also around the same in 2021.
In 2023, Kirby’s base salary was $1,075,000. He received $10.7 million in stock awards and $6.6 million in non-equity incentive compensation.
The spike in Kirby’s pay is primarily due to the end of CARES Act pay restrictions. Airlines received a $25 billion bailout during the pandemic and due to provisions in the CARES Act, executives couldn’t receive significant increases to their compensation.
According to language in the bill, compensation was capped at $3 million plus 50% of the amount their total compensation exceeded $3 million in 2019. United was under CARES Act restrictions until April 1, 2023, but has since reverted back to its pre-pandemic executive pay structure.
Kirby’s 2023 pay is closer to what he made when he was president in 2019, when he took home around $16.8 million.
Kirby has been a big proponent of significantly growing United’s fleet and network, as part of a plan the carrier calls “United Next.”
In recent years, United has placed some of the largest aircraft orders in its history and has launched more international routes, including the most recent addition of Newark to Marrakech. The carrier has been bullish on demand for international travel, premium seating and basic economy.
United has expanded its basic economy offerings, hoping to eat into the ultra-low-cost market share, and at the same time, has been upgrading its international business class product, known as Polaris.
“All the way from basic economy, which just allows us to compete profitably on price on the low end,” Kirby said on a call with analysts in October, “and all the way up to Polaris on long-haul international, United is able to give our customers the real choice they want.”
However, delivery delays and certification issues with certain Boeing aircraft have hampered some of United’s ambitious growth plans. United initially expected to receive 80 737 Max 10s in 2024, but now doesn’t anticipate those orders will be fulfilled this year as the certification timeline for the plane is unclear.
As a result, United is pausing pilot hiring between May and June and is also asking some pilots to take unpaid time off in May.
Kirby has been vocal in his frustrations with the U.S. plane maker. At the JPMorgan Industrials conference, he said it’s “impossible” to know when the Max 10 will be certified.
United has also faced a string of safety incidents
United Airlines is in its generous era, with a deal offering 13% off flights just in time for superstar Taylor Swift's return to the United States.
From Boeing delivery delays and increased Federal Aviation Administration oversight to escalations in the Middle East, it would seem like United Airlines might be in hot water.
United Airlines would have turned a profit in the first quarter of 2024 had it not been for a door plug blowing off an Alaska Airlines jet mid-flight in January.
United Airlines reported it took a $200 million hit during the first-quarter from the Max 9 grounding, according to a regulatory filing posted Tuesday.
United Airlines is reportedly developing a new class of seating, which is said to be a business class inside the existing business class.
The American Airlines pilots’ union said it has noticed a “significant spike” in safety and maintenance-related incidents.
Airlines have been changing routes and canceling flights in response to an escalation in tensions between Israel and Iran.
United Airlines said it was canceling its service to Tel Aviv on Saturday, as reports came out that Iran was launching drones toward Israel.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom was awarded $31.4 million in 2023, his highest compensation since he was appointed to the top spot in 2022, according to a proxy statement filed Thursday.
Around a dozen United Airlines flight attendants picketed outside LaGuardia Airport on Thursday, demanding better pay and working conditions.
Over the past 100 years of shuttling people around the globe in metal flying machines, the world's aviation network has grown into a vast web of intersecting routes that connect nearly every corner of the globe.
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