The remuneration of the CEO of Airbus regularly makes headlines, not only in financial circles. When a union leaflet from CGT Airbus states that Guillaume Faury’s salary increased by 33% in 2025, the question of wealth distribution in the aerospace industry comes back to the forefront. Analyzing this evolution helps to understand how a board of directors calibrates its leader’s pay based on operational, stock market, and climate results.
Three criteria drive the annual bonus of the CEO of Airbus
Why does Guillaume Faury’s salary vary so much from year to year? Because his variable part is based on a precise grid, defined by the remuneration policy 2023-2025 of the board of directors of Airbus SE.
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Specifically, the annual bonus is divided into three weighted blocks:
- EBIT accounts for 40% of the bonus. This is the operational profit before financial charges and taxes. When Airbus delivers more aircraft and controls its costs, this indicator rises.
- Free cash flow also weighs 40%. This indicator measures the group’s ability to generate cash after investments. A record order book is not enough: the money must actually come in.
- Sustainability criteria represent 20%. Reducing CO₂ emissions, eco-efficiency of the fleet, safety and compliance indicators: these extra-financial objectives condition a significant portion of the variable remuneration.
The increase in Guillaume Faury’s salary is therefore explained less by a discretionary decision than by meeting – or exceeding – these quantified thresholds. A year where EBIT progresses significantly can mechanically boost the variable part, even if the fixed salary remains stable.
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Capped remuneration: the mechanism that distinguishes Airbus
You may have noticed that some executives in the CAC 40 see their packages explode during an exceptional year? The board of directors of Airbus has taken the opposite approach. The 2023-2025 policy imposes a cap expressed as a multiple of the fixed salary for the annual variable part.
The principle is simple. Even if all indicators are green and objectives are significantly exceeded, the variable remuneration cannot exceed a certain threshold. This capping acts as a safeguard. It prevents a year of exceptional performance from creating a difficult-to-maintain precedent in subsequent years.
This mechanism is not trivial in the defense and aerospace sector in Europe. Several competing groups do not apply such a formal cap, which makes comparing executive packages sometimes misleading. Comparing only gross amounts without looking at the limitation mechanisms skews the analysis.
Performance shares and ESG criteria since 2021
The annual bonus is just one part of the picture. The other component, often more lucrative in the long term, concerns the performance shares awarded to the CEO.
Since 2021, the criteria for awarding these shares have been modified to formally integrate decarbonization goals and ESG trajectory. The valuation of Guillaume Faury’s assets therefore partly depends on Airbus’s ability to meet its climate commitments, and not just on profitability or stock price.
Why this choice? The aerospace industry is under increasing regulatory pressure. By linking long-term remuneration to environmental indicators, the board aligns the CEO’s interests with those of stakeholders who demand a transition to cleaner aviation. The CEO has a financial incentive to accelerate the development of less polluting aircraft rather than solely maximizing short-term deliveries.
The climate challenge directly impacts the leader’s wealth, which changes the traditional logic of executive remuneration in heavy industry.
Shareholder vote on say on pay
Shareholders of Airbus SE vote each year on executive remuneration at the annual general meeting. This say on pay mechanism allows them to validate or contest the package proposed by the board.
In recent meetings, resolutions on remuneration have been adopted by comfortable majorities. This support reflects a general acceptance of the link between the group’s performance and the evolution of the CEO’s salary. If the stock price rises, orders flow in, and extra-financial criteria are met, shareholders validate the salary trajectory.
CEO salary and salary negotiations: two parallel realities at Airbus
The increase in the executive’s remuneration takes on a particular significance when compared to salary negotiations for employees. The CGT leaflet from Airbus published in March 2026 is explicit: €2.53 billion in dividends paid to shareholders, equivalent to €15,306 per Airbus employee worldwide.
In the face of this redistribution to shareholders, management’s proposals for salary increases in 2026 remain modest: 1.8% for non-executives (including 0.7% general increase and 0.8% individual increase), 1.5% individual increase for executives. The CGT describes these proposals as indecent given the group’s financial situation.
This gap fuels a recurring debate in large French companies listed on the CAC 40. Performance primarily benefits shareholders and the CEO, while employees negotiate increases at much lower percentages. This mechanism is not unique to Airbus, but the disparity in trajectory between the CEO’s remuneration and that of employees makes the issue politically sensitive in a group that employs tens of thousands of people in France.
Guillaume Faury’s remuneration reflects a structure designed to reward financial performance and environmental transition. The capping of the variable part, the integration of ESG criteria, and the shareholder vote frame this trajectory. The gap with negotiated increases for employees remains the most visible point of friction, and one that will continue to shape the social debate at Airbus in the coming years.