The head of Airbus is among the highest-paid executives in the European aerospace sector. Guillaume Faury, who has led the group since 2019, receives a compensation that reflects both the size of the manufacturer and the commercial results achieved over the past few years. Understanding what an executive president of this caliber actually earns helps to better comprehend how the pay of major industrial leaders is structured.
What the compensation of a leader like Guillaume Faury includes
When discussing the salary of a CEO of a CAC 40 company or a publicly traded group of this magnitude, the amount reported in the media tells only part of the story. The compensation of an executive president is broken down into several distinct components.
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The first, the easiest to understand, is the annual fixed salary. It is paid monthly, like for any other employee. For a CEO of an aerospace group the size of Airbus, this fixed salary represents a guaranteed base, independent of performance.
The second component, often the most significant in amount, is the annual variable compensation. It depends on specific objectives: volume of aircraft orders delivered, profitability of the group, adherence to industrial deadlines. If the criteria are met or exceeded, the variable can double or even triple the fixed salary.
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Next come performance shares and long-term incentive plans. These mechanisms align the interests of the executive with those of the shareholders: Guillaume Faury only receives these shares if the stock price and certain financial indicators reach defined thresholds over several years.
To delve deeper into the issue, a file details Guillaume Faury’s salary at Airbus with the amounts made public during the group’s annual general meetings.
Variable compensation at Airbus: the criteria that make a difference
Why does the variable compensation weigh so heavily in the pay of the Airbus CEO? Because the group’s board of directors sets very concrete operational objectives each year.
For an aerospace manufacturer, the mechanics are linked to the production chain. Delivering the ordered aircraft on time is the first lever. Each aircraft coming off the assembly lines in Toulouse or Hamburg generates revenue. A delay, on the other hand, impacts the accounts.
The second criterion concerns the operational profitability of the Airbus group. The executive is evaluated on their ability to control production costs while maintaining a solid order book. In recent years, demand for commercial aircraft has been particularly strong, which has positively influenced the results.
- Deliveries of commercial aircraft: number of aircraft actually delivered to airlines during the fiscal year
- Adjusted operating margin: net profitability of aircraft, helicopters (Airbus Helicopters), and defense activities
- Free cash flow: the group’s ability to generate cash after industrial investments
- Extra-financial criteria: workplace safety, diversity within management, environmental objectives
Each criterion is weighted. If all objectives are exceeded, the variable bonus can reach a ceiling defined by the board of directors. This ceiling is voted on by shareholders during the annual general meeting, a mechanism known as “say on pay.”
Say on pay: how shareholders validate the compensation of the Airbus CEO
You may have heard of shareholder votes on executive pay. This governance mechanism has become common in large European companies.
At Airbus, shareholders vote each year on Guillaume Faury’s compensation. This vote concerns two elements: the compensation policy for the upcoming fiscal year (ex ante vote) and the amounts actually paid for the past fiscal year (ex post vote).
In practice, the group’s reference document publishes the complete details: fixed, variable, performance shares, benefits in kind, retirement contributions. Anyone can consult this information in the annual report filed with market authorities.
This mechanism limits excesses. If shareholders deem the compensation excessive relative to the results, they can vote against it. This has already happened in other companies in the aerospace and defense sector.
Transparency and governance of the group
The governance code that Airbus refers to mandates the detailed publication of each component. No part of the executive’s compensation remains confidential for a publicly traded group of this size. The amounts are accessible in the universal registration document, published each spring.
Guillaume Faury compared to other aerospace executives
Comparing the compensation of the Airbus CEO to that of other executives in the aerospace sector helps to gauge the level of pay practiced at this scale.
In the European aerospace industry, executives of large groups that manufacture helicopters, engines, or defense systems receive high compensation, but often lower than that of the executive president of Airbus. The reason lies in the size of the group: Airbus employs over one hundred thousand people and generates one of the highest revenues in the sector.
On the American side, executives of major aerospace manufacturers generally receive higher amounts, particularly due to differently structured stock plans and bonuses. The transatlantic gap remains significant in the compensation of executives of comparable companies.
Guillaume Faury, an engineer by training who previously led Airbus Helicopters before taking the helm of the group, embodies an industrial leader profile. His trajectory within aerospace, from helicopters to commercial aircraft, played a role in his appointment by the board of directors.
The compensation of the Airbus CEO remains a topic scrutinized each year by analysts, unions, and shareholders. As long as the group continues to fill its order books and deliver its aircraft, the variable part of their pay will remain mechanically high. This direct link between industrial results and executive compensation is the very principle of the governance model chosen by Airbus.