American Airlines CEO nets $13.4M in stock sale

 

DAVID KOENIG, AP Airlines Writer

DALLAS (AP) — The CEO of American Airlines netted a profit of $13.4 million after exercising options and selling shares that he accumulated while running US Airways.

Doug Parker sold more than one-third of his stake in the company formed by the merger of American and US Airways, but he still owns nearly 1.4 million shares, according to a regulatory filing. That stake was worth nearly $47 million at Friday’s closing price.

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American disclosed the stock transactions by Parker and other top executives in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

American and US Airways merged in December, and shares and options in each airline were converted to the new company, American Airlines Group Inc.

According to the SEC filing, Parker paid about $10.7 million to exercise options and acquire 505,375 shares on Thursday. The options were from the 2005 merger of US Airways and America West and were due to begin expiring later this month. That boosted his stake to more than 2 million shares, and he sold 702,375 shares for more than $24.1 million on the same day.

A company spokesman said that about half of Parker’s profit came from selling shares that he bought in 2008 as a show of confidence at a time when the airline industry was struggling with skyrocketing fuel costs.

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Parker told employees this week that he and his wife would donate $1 million to a fund that helps employees with financial problems.

Other executives including President Scott Kirby and Chief Financial Officer Derek Kerr also sold large numbers of shares. They too were executives at US Airways before the merger with American.

American’s shares fell 61 cents, or 1.8 percent, to close at $34.41.

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