Key Points:
- Over 100,000 Delta employees received payments equivalent to around 10% of their annual salary.
- The payout represents a 146% increase from the previous year and is the second largest in Delta’s history.
- Delta’s profit-sharing program includes all employees below mid-level managers.
- Despite being primarily nonunion, Delta pilots receive the same profit-sharing formula as nonunion employees.
Delta Air Lines has announced a significant increase in its profit-sharing payout, totaling $1.4 billion, more than double the amount paid to employees compared to the previous year.
Over 100,000 Delta employees received the payments on Wednesday, equivalent to approximately 10% of their annual salary or more than a month’s pay. This profit-sharing program includes all Delta employees below mid-level managers.
The $1.4 billion payout marks a substantial 146% increase from the profit-sharing payment made a year earlier, surpassing the $108 million paid out in 2021. Notably, there was no profit sharing for the year 2020 due to the unprecedented losses incurred by the airline amidst the sharp decline in air travel demand during the initial phase of the pandemic. This payout is the second largest in Delta’s history, following the record $1.6 billion distributed for 2019, which amounted to approximately two months’ worth of pay per employee.
Delta, primarily a nonunion company with only about 20% of its employees unionized, including its 18,500 pilots, utilizes profit sharing as a key component of its compensation structure. Unlike negotiations required in unionized settings, management at nonunion companies like Delta can independently set the terms of compensation.
Although profit sharing is more commonly associated with nonunion environments, there are instances where union contracts incorporate such payments. For example, despite being unionized, Delta’s pilots receive the same profit-sharing formula as nonunion employees.
Furthermore, other industries, such as automotive, also witness profit-sharing arrangements. In 2023, United Auto Workers (UAW) union members at General Motors and Ford received average profit-sharing payments of $12,250 and $10,416, respectively, despite the impact of strikes on company profits.
On average, Delta employees received approximately $14,000 in profit-sharing payments, underlining the airline’s commitment to rewarding its workforce for contributing to its success.
