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© 2023. Delta Air Lines, Inc.
PEOPLE
Compensation and Benefits
Delta’s Comprehensive Total Rewards Package
Delta’s Comprehensive Total Rewards Package
At Delta, our people drive our success. Together with training and development, our comprehensive total rewards package underscores our commitment and appreciation to the biggest contributor to our success – our team. Our overarching compensation philosophy is to provide industry-leading total compensation for industry-leading performance across all workgroups.
Base Pay
Delta pays frontline employees highly competitive hourly pay rates based on fixed pay scales by role. We aim to pay rates greater than the industry average on an ongoing basis. A mix of three elements – individual performance, market competitiveness and internal equity – influences base pay for our merit employees.
Effective April 1, 2023, we recognized and honored the incredible work and commitment of the Delta people with a 5% base pay increase for ground and flight attendant employees worldwide at all steps of the pay scale and a 5% pool for eligible merit employees worldwide, below the Officer level. This is the second pay increase in 12 months following the 4% across-the-board increase provided on May 1, 2022.
Profit Sharing
For all employees, competitive base pay is just one piece of our larger compensation. Our Profit Sharing Program is industry leading and recognizes our employees’ contributions to meeting our financial targets. Each year that Delta earns a full-year profit, 10% of adjusted profits up to $2.5B and 20% of adjusted profits over $2.5B
are paid out as profit sharing to eligible employees worldwide. In February 2023, a total of $563M in profit sharing was paid from 2022 profits (inclusive of 401(k) contributions and payroll taxes), equivalent to 5.57% of eligible earnings per employee. This comes on the heels of a special payout of $1,250 per employee in early 2022 to recognize a return to profitability in the second half of 2021.
401(k)
We make an automatic contribution equal to 3% of eligible earnings for our primary plan, which includes most domestic employees. We also match 100% of up to 6% of eligible earnings contributed to the plan by the employee, resulting in a combined contribution of 15% when employees contribute 6%. We proudly report that
in 2022, 92% of our employees contributed to their 401(k) accounts, and 86% received the full matching contribution of 6%. We attribute a significant portion of this success to the automatic features of the plan, including auto-enrollment at 6% and auto-escalation up to 10%.
Parental Leave
In 2022, we announced that effective for 2023, we were expanding our maternity and parental leave. Our new industry-leading program provides 10 weeks of 100% employer-paid maternity leave for all U.S.-based expectant mothers. In addition, all
parents will be eligible for two weeks of fully paid parental leave and unpaid leave until the child reaches their first birthday.
Shared Rewards Payout
In 2022, a total of $61 million was paid out to employees under this program as a result of meeting corporate-wide operational goals related to baggage handling, completion factor, on-time arrivals and domestic Net Promoter Score.
Beyond Compensation
We offer a comprehensive benefits program beyond compensation that ranges from healthcare to retirement planning to other perks and discounts. More details about our health and wellness programs can be found in this report’s Health and Wellness section.
Compensation Governance
Compensation Governance
We are in the business of connecting the world. As a global company that aspires to employ a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve, it is essential that our employees are paid equitably. Our frontline employees are paid an hourly rate based on the length of service in their respective positions. For merit positions, we are committed to a yearly review of employee compensation to maintain equitable pay for comparable duties, responsibilities, skills and experience regardless of protected categories.
Collective Bargaining
Collective Bargaining
We respect all employees’ legal rights, including the right to collective bargaining. This includes the right to decide whether to be represented by a union or remain union-free. Our U.S.-based employees are covered by the Railway Labor Act (RLA), the federal law governing labor relations between air carriers and their employees. Under the RLA, employees have the right to decide whether they wish to be represented by a union or to reject union representation.
As of December 31, 2022, 20% of our 90,000+ full-time equivalent employees were represented by unions. This included approximately 15,040 Delta pilots and 450 dispatchers, as well as approximately 1,750 pilots and 1,800 flight attendants at Endeavor Air, our wholly owned subsidiary. Certain employees outside the U.S. are also represented by unions, work councils or other local representative groups.