Air Transportation CEO pay ratio
SEC EDGAR DEF 14A benchmarks for SIC 45. Highest in-industry ratio on this page: United Airlines Holdings, Inc. at 334:1.
- Median pay ratio
- 96:1
- Average pay ratio
- 117:1
- Median CEO pay
- $6.6M
- Companies tracked
- 8
Data updated August 2026
Answer first
Air Transportation sits at #36 of 63 SIC-2 industries by median CEO-to-worker pay ratio and #44 of 63 by median CEO pay - ratio rank is not dollar rank (8 FY2025 filers, median 96:1 / $6.6M).
Ranked just above: Construction (97:1). Just below: Business Services (95:1). Inside this SIC, United Airlines Holdings, Inc. currently leads the in-page company list at 334:1.
- Median ratio
- 96:1
- #36 of 63 SIC-2 industries
- Median CEO pay
- $6.6M
- #44 of 63 by median dollars
- Filers
- 8
- FY2025 SIC 45
Ratio bands inside Air Transportation
Exclusive CEO-to-median-worker bands across 8 complete FY2025 filings in SIC 45. Segments sum to the in-industry set, not the leader bars below.
Air Transportation vs all SIC-2 industries
Air Transportation is #36 of 63 industries by median CEO-to-worker pay ratio (44th percentile). Corpus complete-filing median is 87:1; this industry's median is 96:1.
Filing-year trail · SIC 45
FY2021–2025 cohort medians; changes compare adjacent years and are not inflation-adjusted.
- Latest median ratio
- 96:1
- FY2025
- vs prior FY
- +6:1
- from FY2024 90:1
- Median CEO $ YoY
- -2.7%
- $6.6M latest
- Filer count YoY
- -3
- 8 in FY2025
| FY | Median ratio | Δ ratio | Median CEO pay | Δ pay | Filers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 72:1 | - | $7.2M | - | 9 |
| 2022 | 75:1 | +3:1 | $4.6M | -37% | 11 |
| 2023 | 157:1 | +82:1 | $8.6M | +88% | 11 |
| 2024 | 90:1 | -67:1 | $6.8M | -21% | 11 |
| 2025 | 96:1 | +6:1 | $6.6M | -2.7% | 8 |
Source: PlainCEOPay industry_benchmarks for SIC 45 (Air Transportation), FY2021–2025. Each row is one fiscal-year cohort median, not a company-level panel.
Lower-third median CEO pay
What DEF 14A shows for Air Transportation
Air Transportation median CEO pay $6.6M sits in the bottom third of SIC-2 industries (#44 of 63 by dollars). Air Transportation (SIC 45) median CEO-to-worker pay ratio is 96:1 across 8 FY2025 SEC filers.
The 25th percentile CEO earned $5.6M while the 75th earned $15.2M - a spread that shows how firm size and equity packages differ inside one SIC. When the average (117:1) and median (96:1) stay close, pay practices look more uniform across the sector.
14 Air Transportation companies below ; each company page sets its filing against this median.
Companies in Air Transportation (14 )
| # | Company | CEO Pay | Median Worker | Pay Ratio | FY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United Airlines Holdings, Inc. SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 100517 | $32.3M | $97K | 334:1 | 2025 |
| 2 | Fedex Corp Latest filing FY2024 SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 1048911 | $12.9M | $51K | 254:1 | 2024 |
| 3 | Delta Air Lines, Inc. SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 27904 | $19.2M | $101K | 190:1 | 2025 |
| 4 | Frontier Group Holdings, Inc. SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 1670076 | $6.5M | $54K | 120:1 | 2025 |
| 5 | Skywest Inc SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 793733 | $6.7M | $58K | 115:1 | 2025 |
| 6 | Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc. Latest filing FY2023 SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 1498710 | $6.6M | $62K | 107:1 | 2023 |
| 7 | Sun Country Airlines Holdings, LLC Latest filing FY2024 SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 1743907 | $3.5M | $39K | 90:1 | 2024 |
| 8 | Republic Airways Holdings Inc. SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 810332 | $5.1M | $66K | 77:1 | 2025 |
| 9 | Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings Inc Latest filing FY2021 SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 1135185 | $7.3M | $136K | 54:1 | 2021 |
| 10 | Bristow Group Inc. SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 1525221 | $5.7M | $110K | 52:1 | 2025 |
| 11 | Jetblue Airways Corp SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 1158463 | $116K | $116K | 45:1 | 2025 |
| 12 | Allegiant Travel CO Latest filing FY2024 SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 1362468 | $323K | $54K | 6:1 | 2024 |
| 13 | Southwest Airlines Co Latest filing FY2024 SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 92380 | $457K | $91K | 5:1 | 2024 |
| 14 | American Airlines Group Inc. SEC EDGAR DEF 14A, CIK 6201 | $13.9M | $89K | 1:1 | 2025 |
Latest filing: 6 of the 14 issuers above have no FY2025 filing on file, so their rows show their newest earlier year (see the FY column). They are ranked here beside FY2025 filers and each carries the marker; the Air Transportation benchmark and the lead figures on this page use FY2025 filers only.
Open United Airlines Holdings, Inc. for the in-SIC filing next to this median, or compare every SIC on the Industries directory.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.