FORT WORTH- Major US carrier American Airlines (AA) is the world’s third biggest by fleet size, currently operating 974 aircraft with an additional 338 on order. Part of the Oneworld alliance, American flies to hundreds of destinations around the world and has partnerships with several more which equips it to sell tickets to each of the world’s inhabited continents, barring Antarctica.
At the head of American Airlines is its CEO Robert Isom, one of the airline industry’s most reputed and powerful names. He has played a massive role in elevating American to becoming one of the United States’ most competent airlines. But do you know more about him and how much he is compensated for the work he does?
Who is Robert Isom?
Robert Isom was born in 1967 and raised in the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan. He obtained a dual degree in arts and science from the University of Notre Dame and earned an MBA from the University of Michigan.
His career began at FMCG giant Proctor & Gamble before venturing into the aviation industry with Northwest Airlines and later US Airways. After the merger between US Air and American, Isom continued in his designation as the COO and executive vice president.
In 2016, he became the president of the American Airlines Group and in 2022, he was promoted to the role of CEO, replacing the outgoing Doug Parker. In addition to being the CEO of AA, Isom is also a part of the Homeland Security Advisory Council in the United States.
American CEO Robert Isom Salary
Robert Isom, the CEO of the American Airlines Group received a total payout (salary) of $31.4 million in 2023, according to a report published by the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), the cabin crew union in the United States.
The 57-year-old’s components as part of the entire compensation included a base salary, incentives for retaining top talent within the AA Group, performance-related bonuses, confirmed flights in his preferred cabins on preferred routings, legal fees for negotiating his compensation, and 401(k) contribution. Isom’s pay was 1162 times higher than a new flight attendant.
The monetary breakdown of his benefits is:
- Base salary – $1.3 million
- Bonus – $2.75 million
- Stock awards – $19.5 million
- Incentives – $7.8 million
His compensation for 2023 was several times more than his own earnings in previous years as Isom earned $4.8 million in 2022 and just over $5 million in 2021 (as the president of the group). The majority of the amount paid to Isom was approved by the board of directors in light of AA’s recovery after COVID-19.
Other US Airlines CEO Salaries
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom earned a whopping $31.4 million but his salary still falls short of the number one individual on the list, who is Delta CEO Ed Bastian, after he finished 2023 by pocketing a windfall of $34.2 million.
American and Delta’s CEOs both outdid their other full-service counterpart United’s CEO Scott Kirby, whose final compensation for 2023 was $18.6 million, which in spite of its grandeur, fell relatively short of Isom and Bastian who were at first and second place, respectively.
Southwest, the biggest low-cost carrier in the United States, compensated its CEO Bob Jordan with $9.3 million, a respectable amount considering that the airline does not have as wide wings around the globe when compared to American, Delta, and United.
It should be noted that payments in 2023 might seem inflated in comparison to previous years given that a lot of incentives were paid within the C-suite of companies barring just airlines for turning the accounts around after a few barren years during the pandemic.
It will be interesting to see what figures all the airline CEOs in the US make for 2024.
What is next in store for American Airlines?
American Airlines has announced seven new routes for summer 2025, which are as follows:
- Chicago (ORD) to Madrid (MAD)
- Chicago (ORD) to Naples (NAP)
- Philadelphia (PHL) to Edinburgh (EDI)
- Philadelphia (PHL) to Milan (MXP)
- Charlotte (CLT) to Athens (ATH)
- Dallas (DFW) to Venice (VCE)
- Miami (MIA) to Rome (FCO)
The airline also announced that Asian destinations including Shanghai (PVG) and Tokyo (HND) will have services with more premium cabins.
Boeing 777-300ERs are expected to undergo a retrofit starting from the end of 2024 alongside its entire fleet of Airbus A319s.
Deliveries for Airbus A321XLRs and Boeing 787-9s will begin in 2025 as well, although the biggest and most exciting aircraft due to be received by American is the Boom Overture, for which deliveries are expected to commence in 2029.
Feature Image by Clément Alloing | Flickr
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