Michael O’Leary’s pay soars 33% on record Ryanair revenues

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary last year enjoyed a 33% hike in pay to €3.16m — €8,657 a day.

The airline’s 2016 annual report shows the outspoken CEO was richly rewarded for driving a record year of revenues and profits.

In the 12 months to the end of March last, pre-tax profits at the airline soared 75% to a record €1.7bn as the airline enjoyed revenues of €6.5bn.

According to the report, Mr O’Leary secured the pay increase through an annual gross salary of €1m and a bonus of €855,000, along with share-based compensation of €1.25m.

The annual report states that Mr O’Leary’s bonus was determined by the airline’s remuneration committee at 95% of the prior year’s basic pay on the basis of operational, financial, and customer service objectives.

The annual report goes to some pains to say Mr O’Leary’s total pay is low by comparison with chief executives of EU airlines or other Irish stock market companies.

It points out that the total pay last year of IAG chief executive Willie Walsh — who runs Aer Lingus, British Airways, and Iberia — was €8.8m. easyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall was paid €8.36m, while her counterpart at Lufthansa received €3.19m.

However, Mr O’Leary’s pay is dwarfed by the value of his 50m shares in Ryanair, representing 3.9% of the overall shareholding which is currently worth €570m.