United Airlines flight attendants were picketing outside 17 airports around the world on Thursday in a protest about pay, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA said.
Announcing the action, the union said the carrier’s CEO, Scott Kirby, saw his pay rise by around 90% in 2023.
According to a proxy statement filed by the company earlier this month, Kirby was paid $18.5 million last year, compared to $9.8 million the year before.
Much of the increase was due to him receiving $6.6 million in cash based on an incentive program, in addition to a salary of over $1 million, $10.7 million in stock awards, and $155,740 in “other compensation,” the proxy statement said.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average flight attendant made $70,000 in 2023.
“If the airline has money to award execs with massive compensation increases, we expect to receive the same,” Ken Diaz, the AFA United president, said in a press release.