Willie Walsh, the boss of International Airlines Group who is battling the Irish government to secure a takeover of Aer Lingus, boosted his pay by almost a third last year to pocket £6.4 million.
During that year, the group which owns British Airways, budget carrier Vueling and Iberia cut another 1427 jobs at the latter airline, meaning its staff numbers are down almost 4600 since 2012.
Iberia’s pilots and crew also faced major pay cuts.
Walsh, however, pocketed bonuses worth about £5.2 million on top of his £850,000 salary and £238,000 benefits as IAG’s profit flew higher.
Last year Walsh took home £4.9 million, again mostly via his bonus, which he passed up in 2012 as IAG made a loss.
It’s a decade since Walsh took the helm, first running BA, then IAG.
He said: “I believe not only that we can sustain [2014’s performance] but that we can build and improve on it.”
