United Airlines Holdings management check
UAL · Industrials · Passenger Airlines · CEO Scott Kirby
Filings as of
5 good · 2 to watch · 0 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $259, against $88 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.77 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
1.0% of net income$32.3m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $3.4bn of net income.
- Watch
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 3.2 years of payThe CEO holds 869,198 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 3.2 years of pay. 6 insiders sold $38.4m in the last six months and none bought. 3 of 12 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -0.5% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 0.3% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
11 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Scott Kirby. 11 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Industrials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 100 | 55 | |
| Pay for performance | 89 | 86 | |
| CEO cost | 51 | 48 | |
| Skin in the game | 40 | 55 | |
| Dilution | 56 | 62 | |
| Stable leadership | 70 | 75 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Passenger Airlines, by management score. United Airlines Holdings is 25th of 81 in its sector.
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed April 7, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Scott Kirby | $32.3m | $45.6m | $12.0m | $259 | $88 | $3.4bn |
| 2024 | — | $33.9m | $96.7m | $14.0m | $225 | $83 | $3.1bn |
| 2023 | — | $18.6m | $23.1m | $7.5m | $95 | $83 | $2.6bn |
| 2022 | — | $9.8m | $9.9m | $2.9m | $87 | $64 | $737.0m |
| 2021 | — | $9.8m | $11.1m | $3.2m | $101 | $98 | −$2.0bn |
The board says pay is tied most to absolute Adjusted EPS. Its other key measures: Absolute Adjusted EPS, Relative Adjusted Pre-Tax Margin, Liquidity hurdle, Adjusted EBITDAR Margin.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
J Scott Kirby (Chief Executive Officer) held 869,198 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Jul 25, 2026, roughly $102.8m at that filing's price.
6 insiders sold $38.4m in the last six months and none bought. 3 of 12 sales ran on pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans.
- SoldJ Scott KirbyChief Executive Officer$24.8mJul 21, 2026
- SoldKate GeboEVP HR and Labor Relations$4.2mMay 26, 2026
- SoldBrett J HartPresident$3.6mJul 28, 2026
- SoldTorbjorn J EnqvistEVP & Chief Operations Officer$2.4mJul 24, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- May 28, 2025Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Jan 17, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 17, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 29, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Apr 1, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Mar 4, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 28, 2024Leadership change8-K/A 5.02
- Feb 28, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 22, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 28, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Dec 22, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 22, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: May 22, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $799.0m returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 10% of net income, and $697.0m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $24.6bn | $45.0bn | $53.7bn | $57.1bn | $59.1bn |
| Net income | −$2.0bn | $737.0m | $2.6bn | $3.1bn | $3.4bn |
| Stock-based pay | $238.0m | $89.0m | $80.0m | $142.0m | $148.0m |
| Buybacks | $0 | $0 | $0 | $162.0m | $637.0m |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | 322m | 330m | 332m | 333m | 329m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.