Delta Air Lines distributes annual profit sharing on Valentine’s Day, literally showing the love. Today’s amount going to employees is $1.4 billion. That’s more profit sharing than all other U.S. airlines combined. Employees are receiving 10.04% of earnings this year, or about 5 weeks of additional pay.
Total profit sharing at Delta over the last decade, including the lean years of the pandemic, exceeds $10 billion. Over the 2014 – 2019 period, Delta paid out more than $1 billion in profit sharing annually. I don’t believe any company, in any industry, has paid out more cash profit sharing in nominal terms than Delta (ever).
CEO Ed Bastian says,
Every day, Delta people prove themselves to be difference makers in this industry. I’m proud to recognize their unmatched professionalism, teamwork and dedication to excellence with one of our strongest profit sharing years in Delta’s history.
Most Delta employees don’t wait five years without raises pending contract talks – while the value of their wages are eaten away by inflation – like at United and American Airlines.
The airline adds monthly bonuses (‘shared rewards’) for hitting operational goals, $1,000 payouts for going through personal finance education, and the airline was the first to introduce boarding pay for flight attendants and did it as a true add-on to existing wages (in contrast, at American, flight attendant leaders recognize that when they got this provision in their new contract it traded off with wages).
It’s a large reason that I frequently say that if I was a frontline employee at American Airlines, United or another U.S. carrier I wouldn’t give up my union (though it’s often the case that their representation underperforms), but that if I were at Delta working as a frontline employee I would not want one. Delta leads in compensation. They didn’t furlough any employees during the pandemic, as American and United each furloughed over 10,000.
They’re able to drive a revenue premium in part because their employees are better, they have a better culture, and that’s something that wouldn’t likely be sustained under collective bargaining (though until recently Southwest was able to do so).
American’s union contract for flight attendants will see the same profit sharing formula going forward as Delta’s – but for the foreseeable future will see far lower profit sharing payments. American flight attendants can look at Delta’s payments and divide by five. A year ago an American Airlines flight attendant went viral for advising prospective cabin crew not to take on the career – unless it’s with Delta.
This story originally appeared on View From The Wing.