Major Travel Companies have the highest CEO-to worker pay ratios of 500:1.

The average employee at the largest hotel chains in the United States can expect to make one dollar per $500 of compensation that their CEO receives.

Skift has analyzed new filings of publicly-traded travel and tourism companies to determine the ratios of pay between CEOs and median earners.

SEC filings reveal that Hilton Worldwide Holdings (577 to 1), Las Vegas Sands (475 to 1), and Marriott International (515 to 1) reported the biggest gaps between the CEOs of the three hotel companies.

Marriott’s CEO Anthony Capuano, for instance, earned over $21.9 million total compensation in 2024. A median employee, on the other hand, earned around $42,000. proxy statement.

In a statement provided to Skift, Marriott stated that the pay ratio can vary year-to-year depending on various factors including annual incentive plan payouts as well as compensation decisions for CEOs and median employees.

According to Hilton’s latest annual report, CEO Christopher Nassetta received nearly $28,000,000 in total compensation for 2024. The median employee made about $48,500. proxy statement. (CEO compensation is calculated differently. According to another measure Skift recently reported Nassetta won nearly $59 million in the last year.

Hilton offers competitive benefits and pay to all its team members. It is also proud of the exceptional work culture, which has been named as one of the best workplace cultures in the world. This environment supports the professional development of more than half a million employees around the globe.

Hilton’s CEO compensation is directly linked to the company’s performance, and it is competitively placed compared to our peers. This is based on an annual benchmarking process conducted by the independent compensation consultant of the board.

Las Vegas Sands declined to comment on requests.

Hyatt Hotels Corporation (351):1, Wynn Resorts (334):1, and MGM Resorts (332):1 reported lower CEO-to-median ratios. Wynn Resorts (47,748) has a median salary that is slightly higher ($47.748) than MGM Resorts ($47.607) or Hyatt ($47.192).

Airline and Cruise Pay

SEC filings show that United Airlines (380 to 1) and Delta Air Lines (258) are the top two airlines in terms of pay gaps between airline CEOs.

United released a statement to Skift that stated the United CEO Scott Kirby’s compensation in 2024 of more than 33.9 million dollars “reflects United’s extraordinary success as well as our turnaround after the Covid downturn”. His compensation is directly linked to operational and financial targets. United has invested over $32 billion in cutting-edge technology, modern infrastructure and employee raises since 2021.

Delta has not responded to a comment request.

American Airlines (191 to 1), Alaska Airlines (119.6 to 1), Southwest Airlines (115:1) and JetBlue Airways (81) are the next largest airlines after United Airlines and Delta.

Delta’s median salary in 2024 was $105,269; it was followed by Southwest (91,442) United ($89.197), JetBlue(82,624) American ($81.744) and Alaska$72,410, according to SEC documents. 

Travel CEO Pay in comparison to worker pay

Carnival Corp. reported a 1,381:1 ratio — but explained that the seemingly low median wage of its employees ($16,834) is not an annualized figure and “excludes any cash gratuities paid directly to the employee by guests,” while also excluding “room and meals, transportation to and from the ship, and medical care, which are provided to our ship-based employees without charge.”

Royal Caribbean reported an CEO to median pay ratio 1,037-1, while Norwegian Cruise Lines announced a ratio 550-1.

Calculating the CEO to median employee pay

The ratio of CEO to median employee pay is a relatively recent calculation for publicly-traded companies. It was a result of the Great Recession. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The SEC adopted Companies began reporting the rule in 2018. 

There is no standard method for determining ratios, which makes direct comparisons difficult.

Booking Holdings is one of them. Its brands include Booking.comPriceline, Kayak Cheapflights and OpenTable reported a ratio of 466:1 and a median salary of $96,228.

Booking Holdings wrote.

Airbnb’s reported Pay

Airbnb reported the lowest CEO pay ratio among major, publicly traded travel industry companies, with CEO Brian Chesky receiving less compensation in 2024 — $186,326 — than the median employee, who received $271,657.

Airbnb is an exception because of its a unique executive compensation plan The company is a leader among its competitors. 

Chesky was awarded a stock-heavy in 2020 10-year pay package That could earn him $1 billion or more by the beginning of the next decade, but a base salary that is just $1. Chesky will still make a lot of money even though it isn’t reflected in the standard CEO to median employee pay ratio.

Airbnb admitted that the CEO pay ratio did not include Mr. Chesky’s equity award in November 2020, which was meant to replace ten years worth of compensation for our CEO. April 25 financial filing with the SEC.

In its most recent proxy statement, Airbnb also stated: “We are committed to the principle of pay equity and seek to be a leader on this front … We want executives to come and stay with Airbnb because of our mission. We recognize, however, that compensation must be competitive and compelling to attract and retain talent to achieve our objectives.

Other notable companies with relatively tight CEO pay ratios include Expedia Group (224:1), travel technology company Sabre Corp. (155:1), TripAdvisor (72:1), and Host Hotels & Resorts (63:1), which operates a real estate investment trust and tends to employ a larger proportion of higher wage earners relative to other hotel companies.