The chairman and chief executive of American Airlines' parent company got just an $8,000 raise last year, but Gerard J. Arpey also received almost $328,000 in stock-based compensation plus options on additional shares, the company disclosed Friday.
However, at least three other top executives at the nation's largest airline did even better because they got cash and stock bonuses tied to the rising share price of AMR Corp. Arpey declined a bonus.
AMR lost $861 million last year.
Arpey was paid a salary of $526,620 in 2005, a raise of 1.5 percent from the $518,837 he got in 2004. He also received restricted stock worth $327,960 and options for 95,000 shares that vest over five years, according to the proxy that AMR Corp. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Daniel P. Garton, executive vice president for marketing, was paid a $479,349 salary, $225,473 in restricted stock and nearly $1.9 million under long-term incentives tied to AMR's stock price, which more than tripled during the 2003-2005 period covered by the plan.
General Counsel Gary F. Kennedy and Robert W. Reding, senior vice president for technical operations, each received salaries of about $430,000, plus $136,650 in restricted stock and $1.55 million from the long-term bonus plan.
The bonuses - which extended in smaller amounts down to about 1,000 managers - were originally to be paid in cash. Leaders of American Airlines' unions complained when they learned of the size of the payouts earlier this year.
Company directors responded last month by ordering that no more than 20 percent of the bonuses would be paid in cash, with the rest in stock.
AMR shares fell 99 cents, or 4.2 percent, to close at $22.46 in trading Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
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