Source: Associated Press

Glenn Tilton, the chairman and chief executive of United Airlines parent UAL Corp., received compensation valued at $1.7 million for 2008, a 19.2 percent increase over the previous year, according to an analysis of the company's proxy statement filed on Friday.

Tilton's base pay stayed unchanged — at his request — at $850,000 for 2008. The company said Tilton has asked for it to stay the same this year, too.

However, the board increased a short-term incentive payout to $695,640 from $422,425 the prior year, according to the proxy statement. That accounted for nearly all of the increase in his pay from the $1.4 million in total compensation he received for 2007.

Tilton, who runs the nation's third-largest airline, received other compensation the company valued at $157,057, including retirement contributions, personal use of the company car and driver, and travel on United flights.

Tilton's compensation is already set to rise in 2009. Last month the company adopted a new long-term incentive program and Tilton was granted 275,000 restricted stock units and options on 400,000 shares on April 1, when the company's shares were trading at $4.86. The award begins vesting on April 1, 2010.

Shares of UAL Corp., United's parent, rose 3 cents to close at $6.42 on Friday.

The company's shares lost 69 percent of their value during 2008, falling from $35.66 at the end of 2007 to $11.02 and the end of 2008. They were at their worst as oil prices peaked over the summer, at one point closing as low as $3.13.

United lost $5.35 billion in 2008 after recording a 2007 profit of $403 million. Revenue in 2008 rose 0.3 percent to $20.19 billion.

The Associated Press formula is designed to isolate the value the company's board placed on the executive's total compensation during the last fiscal year. It includes salary, bonus, performance-related bonuses, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation (which Tilton did not receive) and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don't include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which reflect the size of the accounting charge taken for the executives compensation in the previous fiscal year.

Chicago-based UAL plans to hold its annual meeting June 11 at one of its facilities in Elk Grove Village, Ill.