Steve Schuller
Senior Vice President, Human Resources at ULCC
Executive
About Steve Schuller
Steve C. Schuller is Senior Vice President, Human Resources at Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC), serving in this role since February 2024 after five years as Vice President, Human Resources (September 2018–February 2024) . He is 55 years old and holds a B.S. in Hotel Administration from Cornell University . Executive pay at ULCC is tied to a Management Bonus Plan emphasizing company performance—Adjusted Pre-Tax Margin, Year-end Net Cash, Adjusted CASM ex-fuel—and operational metrics; FY2024 corporate goals attained 79%, informing bonus outcomes for executives, with the FY2025 plan approved on similar terms .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC) | Vice President, Human Resources | Sep 2018–Feb 2024 | Human capital leadership (title and tenure disclosed) |
| Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC) | Senior Vice President, Human Resources | Feb 2024–present | Executive HR leadership (title and tenure disclosed) |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catapult Health | VP, Talent & HR; Chief Learning Officer | Jun 2014–Aug 2017 | Talent and learning leadership (titles disclosed) |
Fixed Compensation
- ULCC sets executive base salaries to reflect role, responsibilities, and market benchmarking, targeting around the market median for total direct compensation; peer assessment blends airline peers (75%) and broader industry (25%) .
- Management Bonus Plan: Target bonus expressed as % of base salary; weighting 75% corporate performance and 25% individual performance; component achievement thresholds at 50%, target at 100%, stretch 150%, and maximum 200% .
Performance Compensation
ULCC’s Management Bonus Plan metrics and FY2024 goal framework:
| Metric | Threshold | Target | Stretch | Maximum | FY2024 Actual | Contribution to Attainment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year-end Net Cash ($) | $175M | $276M | $325M | $375M | $237M | 19% |
| Adjusted Full-Year CASM ex-fuel (SLA 1,000) | 6.27 | 6.21 | 6.18 | 6.15 | 6.42 (adjusted for planning assumptions) | — (below threshold) |
| Full-Year Adjusted Pre-Tax Margin (%) | 5.5% | 7.5% | 8.5% | 9.5% | 0.9% (adjusted for planning assumptions) | — (below threshold) |
| Operational Objectives (4 KPIs) | 1 of 4 | 2 of 4 | 3 of 4 | 4 of 4 | 4 of 4 achieved | 60% |
FY2024 operational achievements underpinning the above:
| Operational Objective | 2024 Measure | 2024 Actual | Target Achieved? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aircraft Availability at Start of Day | 92% or better | 94% | Yes |
| Controllable Turn Performance | 75% or better | 86% | Yes |
| Head Start On-Time Percentage | 75% or better | 77% | Yes |
| DOT Mishandled Bag Rate (Industry Rank) | Rank 4 or better | Rank 4 | Yes |
- ULCC confirmed FY2025 Management Bonus Plan for all executives follows similar design to FY2024 .
- Pay-versus-performance disclosures identify the most important financial measures linking compensation to outcomes: Adjusted Pre-Tax Margin, Year-end Net Cash, and Adjusted CASM ex-fuel; charts also compare compensation actually paid with cumulative TSR and net income .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- Section 16 reporting: ULCC disclosed a late Form 4 filing by Steve Schuller on February 8, 2024 to report (i) vesting of previously reported RSUs on February 3, 2024 with shares withheld to satisfy taxes and (ii) a grant of RSUs on February 1, 2024 .
- Clawback: ULCC maintains a policy requiring recovery of erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation upon an accounting restatement, applicable to executive officers for awards received on/after October 2, 2023 .
- Hedging: Insider Trading Compliance Policy prohibits hedging transactions (e.g., collars, swaps, prepaid forwards) by directors, officers and employees; the policy is publicly filed and referenced in the proxy .
- Beneficial ownership: The FY2025 proxy tabulates directors and NEOs but does not provide an individual line item for Schuller; group totals are disclosed for all executives and directors .
Employment Terms
- ULCC’s termination-based compensation framework for senior executives (as disclosed for NEOs) provides severance via cash in lieu of salary/bonus, continuation of flight benefits via UATP for a limited period, and health benefits coverage for a limited period, contingent on signing a general release; executives are at-will under offer letters .
- Tax and compliance: The Compensation Committee considers tax impacts; disclosures address Section 280G (excess parachute payments) and compliance with Section 409A (deferred compensation form/timing) .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Schuller’s role is embedded in a broad pay-for-performance system that ties executive incentives to net cash, cost discipline (Adjusted CASM ex-fuel), profitability, and operational KPIs—reducing misalignment risk between executives and shareholders .
- Retention and severance: Standard at-will employment with defined severance components and non-compete frameworks (as seen in disclosed executive offer letters) suggests balanced retention protection without excessive guarantees .
- Trading signals: The anti-hedging policy and clawback reduce governance risk from hedging and restatement-related pay; RSU vest/withholding events (e.g., early February) can create predictable administrative share flows but do not necessarily indicate discretionary insider selling pressure .
- Benchmarking discipline: ULCC targets market-median pay using airline-heavy peer input (75%)—mitigating pay inflation risk and anchoring incentives to sector norms .