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Merger pays off for United, Continental chiefs
Airline CEO Jeff Smisek began 2010 with a vow not to receive a salary until Continental Airlines turned a profit and ended the year with a pay raise and $4.4 million in total compensation after pulling off a merger with United Airlines.
Smisek, who is CEO of the merged carrier's parent company, United Continental Holdings Inc., received a salary of $791,250 and $3.6 million in other incentive pay. Directors determined that Continental would have been profitable for the year but also bumped up Smisek's base pay after the Oct. 1 merger to $975,000, according to a proxy statement filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
But Smisek's compensation was dwarfed, on paper, by the $16.8 million total compensation awarded to Glenn Tilton, his premerger counterpart at Chicago-based United Airlines.
In addition to his base pay of $822,999, Tilton received a $2.7 million discretionary bonus awarded by United's board in September, shortly before the merger closed.