Qantas CEO Alan Joyce makes considerably more than most Australians but his $2.27 million pay packet is still below his previous salaries.
The national carrier published its annual report on Friday running at over 150 pages, which included the remuneration of its top brass.
With the pandemic affecting global travel, Qantas felt the economic crunch with its net debt ballooning to nearly $4 billion.
This economic slowdown led to the freezing of hefty bonuses for its senior management whose pay was impacted by 65 per cent.
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Mr Joyce's pay dipped to 77 per cent prior to COVID-19 financial levels.
The top executive who has been at the helm since 2008 earned an eye-watering $10.86 million in 2018.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said this year represented a return to corporate normality for the airline which has been roundly criticised for late flights and missing baggage.
"This annual report hopefully represents the last chapter of the terrible impact that the COVID crisis had on Qantas," he said.
"The restart has been bumpy, which reflects how difficult it is to bring an airline out of hibernation at the same time as dealing with record rates of COVID in the community".
The chairman also took the opportunity to apologise to customers for the multiple stop-starts.
A strike by baggage handlers working for Dnata, which would have affected Qantas flights, was called off after the Transport Workers' Union stepped in and struck a deal for a pay increase of 12.6 per cent.
