For United Continental CEO Jeff Smisek, running a bigger airline is paying off
Joshua Freed, AP Airlines Writer, On Friday April 22, 2011, 7:38 pm EDT
Jeff Smisek is running a bigger airline, and now he's getting a bigger paycheck.
The president and CEO of United Continental Holdings Inc. collected compensation worth $4.4 million last year, according to an Associated Press calculation from a proxy statement the newly merged airline filed on Friday.
When 2010 began, Smisek, 56, had just taken over as CEO of Continental Airlines. He helped negotiate a merger with United. After the deal closed Oct. 1, he took over as CEO of the combined company, which will be the world's largest airline and fly under the United name.
The compensation figure for last year includes his salary for his time at both airlines plus a cash incentive of $3.6 million and $9,766 in extras. His total compensation was $3.6 million in 2009, when he was president and chief operating officer of Continental.
As head of Continental, Smisek had said he would not take a salary or bonuses until it earned a full-year profit. It did -- $854 million, counting the results for both companies. Because of that, United Continental said in the filing, it paid Smisek's salary retroactively at the end of 2010, partly at the Continental rate and partly at a higher rate after the merger.
Smisek's base salary was $730,000 as head of Continental. The combined company's board raised his salary to $975,000 after the merger "in consideration of his enhanced responsibility and leadership," the filing said.
He also received $6,735 for a 401(k) contribution and $3,031 in tax reimbursement.
