United Airlines CEO tripled compensation in 2016 to $18.7M

United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz, who came under withering criticism for the airline’s handling of a passenger-dragging incident, received $18.7 million in compensation last year, more than triple the year before.

Most of Munoz’s compensation was in stock. The company said Friday in a regulatory filing that about $6.8 million of the total was related to a signing bonus that Munoz was promised in 2016.

Munoz was widely faulted for his early responses to the April 9 incident on board a United Express plane. He first blamed the 69-year-old passenger who was dragged off by airport security officers, but later apologized repeatedly for United’s handling of the situation.

United also said Munoz won’t add the title of chairman next year as planned. Munoz proposed rewriting his employment contract to remove the expectation that he would become chairman at the 2018 annual meeting of parent United Continental Holdings Inc.

Munoz was named CEO in September 2015.