According to an April report by a leading Investment Adviser firm, United CEO Scott Kirby has a net worth of at least $44.1 million and collects an annual salary of $16,779,500 as Chief Executive Officer and President of United Airlines at United Airlines Inc.
By comparison, a ramp or gate agent at the airline at the top of the payscale working full-time would need to work 226 years to make the same amount of money as the CEO of their company.
Kirby’s yearly salary is only $1 million, meaning most of his income comes from other sources. It is common for executives at larger companies to collect modest-sized wages. In 2020, Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and one of the world’s wealthiest men, took in a yearly take of only $81,840. Yet, his actual income has been estimated to be as high as $64 Billion.
In 2022, there was a change in how CEO compensation was reported for major public companies.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) implemented a new rule requiring these companies to disclose “compensation actually paid” to top executives rather than just the total compensation awarded. This newly reported figure clarifies how much the CEO received in cash and stock last year versus pay that is still pending or tied to performance goals. This new SEC rule aims to give investors a clearer picture of how much money CEOs take home each year.work through. They’ve really been struggling this week, even relative to other US airlines.” He went on to defend his agency, saying, “I want to be very clear, air traffic control issues are not the number one issue causing cancellations and delays. They’re not even the number two issue. All the data, including industry’s own data is very clear on that.”
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) agreed. Captain Garth Thompson issued a June 28 statement, saying, “United’s travel disruptions this week stem from one source; company senior management’s inadequate planning and insufficient investment in the airline infrastructure.”
“Our pilots agree with our passengers that this lack of foresight and disregard of warning signs is unacceptable. It’s time for United leadership to change their thinking and invest in its labor, staff support, and facilities with updated contracts instead of ensuring our CEO has the highest salary,” he continued.
Most recently, Kirby claimed that the airline industry is overstaffed by 10% despite paying thousands in incentives to attract new workers to major hubs such as Denver.
His comments also came amidst a well-documented shortage of qualified pilots. The idea that airlines are overstaffed was quickly rebuked by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA), who informed Kirby, “Not in the severely understaffed UA inflight crew scheduling department — which exacerbates delays and cancellations for passengers and crew.” United CEO Scott Kirby Makes 226 Years of Wages in a Single Year,Has a Networth of $44.1 millions while having a annual salary of $16,779,500, Investigation Reveals