Delta Air Lines Chief Executive Richard Anderson's total compensation declined about 52 percent in 2009, a year when the airline lost $1.2 billion.
Anderson's total compensation came to roughly $8.4 million in 2009, down from $17.4 million in 2008, according to Delta's annual filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday.
His salary remained the same, at $600,000, but he received no new stock options, compared with $8 million worth last year. That's because executives and others got special one-time stock awards in 2008 for Delta's merger with Eagan, Minn.-based Northwest Airlines. The compensation packages for Delta president Ed Bastian and other executives also declined, partly for the same reason.
Anderson's compensation for 2009 also included $6.6 million in stock awards, separate from options.
As part of $1.2 million in "other compensation," Anderson got $771,715 in relocation expenses. That was to compensate for the loss Anderson, a former Northwest CEO who worked for another Minnesota company when hired at Delta, took on the sale of his house after he moved to Atlanta, along with $121,715 for shipping and other relocation costs.
Because Delta lost money in 2009, it did not pay out profit-sharing to employees or incentives to executives for financial performance. The company made other payouts for performance in restricted stock rather than cash.
In 2007, Anderson's total compensation was $11.3 million, including stock awards when he joined Delta as CEO.
Delta's shareholder meeting will be June 30 in New York, according to the filing.
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