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Person in military uniform crouching down with arms extended towards a child who is running towards them with outstretched arms
Person in military uniform crouching down with arms extended towards a child who is running towards them with outstretched arms

Our Approach to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

At Delta, we believe when we reflect and respect the world, we’re able to better connect and serve our global customers. This approach has been core to our business strategy.

Our performance is our proof. Operational excellence, business growth, talent retention, increased innovation, world-class reliability, and customer engagement, satisfaction and loyalty are the result of hiring the best, most qualified people.1 Delta delivers on its commitments to shareholders by providing opportunities for all. Responsibly stewarding our resources means using them to create a world of possibilities and driving social impact for every one of our 100,000 employees — without regard to race, religion or gender — to thrive.

  1. Delta is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We provide reasonable accommodation in our application and selection process for qualified individuals with a disability, including accommodations related to compliance with conditional job offer requirements. As part of our commitment to transparency, and based on feedback from internal and external stakeholders, we publish our latest EEO-1 report as submitted to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on our corporate website.

As a high-performing company, we understand that bringing together the best and brightest talent allows us to serve and support our customers, communities, shareholders and employees with excellence. Our diversity, equity and inclusion strategy is aligned with our business strategy and company values that fuel our success. As champions of connection, we also bring people together, create access to opportunities and drive social impact for everyone, everywhere to thrive.”

Keyra Lynn Johnson Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion & Social Impact Officer

In our efforts to achieve equitable outcomes for all employees, key areas include:

  • Today, 11% of Delta employees are veterans, and veterans make up 7% of Delta leaders. We continue to provide veteran-specific resources for employment, health and well-being, and support the growth of our Veterans Business Resource Group, which already boasts 2,473 members.
  • We’re dedicated to being an industry leader in closing the gap between employees’ needs and the material security they deserve. We champion fair living wages and economic opportunities that ensure secure, stable futures for our employees and their families.
  • We are always hiring or promoting the best and most qualified talent. We aspire for our senior leadership team to reflect the diversity of backgrounds and experiences of our more than 100,000 employees.

Delta's DEI Strategy

DRIVING SOCIAL IMPACT FOR EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE TO THRIVE

  • Actively Valuing Diversity - We actively value diversity by seeking, supporting and uplifting the employees, customers, communities and business partners that reflect and respect the world we serve.
  • Boldly Pursuing Equity - We boldly pursue equity with an emphasis on the workforce, community and supply chain, creating access to opportunities for all.
  • Consciously Promoting Inclusion - We consciously promote inclusion, building on Delta’s culture of listening and engagement to foster greater understanding and a sense of belonging for all.
Six Delta employees dressed in ramp agent uniforms.

Workforce Demographics at Delta1,2

Gender

42% WOMEN 58% MEN

Age

12% (1946–1964) BABY BOOMERS
 36% (1965–1980) GENERATION X  41% (1981–1996) MILLENNIAL 
 11% (1997–2012) GENERATION Z 


Race

49% WHITE 27% BLACK 12% LATIN/HISPANIC 7% ASIAN 5% ³ OTHER

Veteran Status4

11% VETERANS 89% NONVETERANS
  1. Reflects demographic characteristics of our active domestic employees, expats, employees in U.S. territories and employees on Voluntary Unpaid Leave of Absence as of December 31, 2024.
  2. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
  3. The demographics present in Other Racial and Ethnic Groups: Native American, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Two or More races/ethnicities.
  4. Based on employees who have voluntarily declared veteran status.

Our Commitment to Equity and Inclusion

We are working to achieve equitable, merit-based outcomes for all employees through actions aligned with our three DEI focus areas.

Focus Area Strive to Reflect the World We Serve

Delta aims to reinforce our talent pipeline by, among other things, expanding our recruitment efforts and seeking qualified interview panelists of various backgrounds and different experiences.

Inspiring Future Aviators from Underrepresented Groups

Each year, Delta invites students from underrepresented groups to come fly with crews in whom they can see themselves. In celebration of Girls in Aviation Day, we partnered with Women in Aviation International to host our eighth Aviation Women Inspiring the Next Generation Flight. A flight piloted, staffed and crewed entirely by women brought 136 girls ages 11-18 from Atlanta to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center to introduce them to careers in aviation and engage directly with women in these roles.

Another program, DREAM Flight, is a special charter flight featuring an all-Black crew that carries Black students from Atlanta to an aviation-themed destination each year in partnership with the Organization of Black Aerospace Professionals (OBAP). We commemorated our 24th annual DREAM Flight with Delta First Officer Kyle Foley as pilot — revisiting his experience as a 12-year-old passenger on our first-ever DREAM Flight in 2000. Delta’s partnership with OBAP has given 21 Black students opportunities to better understand pathways to aviation careers.

Read more about how we’re engaging youth from underrepresented communities

Community

Focus Area Create Merit-Based Access to Career Pathways

We work to expand our internal and external career pathways and leadership development opportunities, in part, by introducing a Skills-First talent approach, which creates merit-based access to career opportunities by considering skills as equivalencies to education.

Progress and Highlights

  • Required no college degree for 77% of all job openings filled externally in 2024
  • Assigned talent acquisition liaisons to Business Resource Groups to advance our Skills-First hiring strategy
  • Expanded our K-12 outreach in underserved communities to proactively address projected pilot and mechanic pipeline gaps

Partnering to Match Military Service with Delta Roles

In line with our journey to expand our talent pipeline, in 2024, Delta partnered with the U.S. Army as part of its Partnership for Your Success (PaYS) program.

PaYS is a strategic partnership between the U.S. Army and select employers that connects enlisting soldiers and Reserve Officers' Training Corps cadets to interviews and potential full-time jobs following their military service. Delta posts full-time positions to the PaYS database that match with the job skills offered by the U.S. Army, U.S. Army National Guard and U.S Army Reserve.

Focus Area Cultivate Leadership That Reflects Our Diverse Workforce

We aspire to have our senior leadership team reflect the diversity of backgrounds and experiences of our 100,000-plus employees. Delta encourages this by adopting recruitment strategies that seek the most qualified leadership candidates with diverse experiences, skills and perspectives and expanding leadership development programs to continue promoting from within.

Progress and Highlights

  • Included 10 historically Black colleges and universities in our recruitment efforts
  • Supported over 200 veterans through virtual and in-person sessions focused on helping them succeed in their first 90 days in civilian roles, and participated in job fairs to help military spouses find employment opportunities, reinforcing our commitment to the military community
  • Prepared our employees for key roles and future leadership positions through a variety of training and development programs
Delta airplane cabin with young female passengers seated and several female pilots and flight attendants standing in the aisle
Two Delta employees assist a customer at an airport check-in counter.