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There are some commercial airlines in America that make traveling by airplane a legitimate nightmare. I won’t name any names because we all know who they are.
Delta is not one of those miserable airlines. It hasn’t always been this way, but flying with Delta over the past few years has been a pleasure. Their airplanes are usually on the newer-to-newest end of the spectrum, their staff is happy, they offer great in-flight amenities (TV/Movies/Food/etc). I wouldn’t say that I’m 100% loyal to any specific airline these days because I book based on times + fare instead of the airline but if I had my choice of any airline in America it would almost always be Delta.
Apparently, I’m not alone in choosing Delta whenever I can because they’ve made a goddamn fortune…again. After announcing profits up 21% from the year prior and $4.8 billion in earnings, due in part to Delta being the only major US carrier without a Boeing 737 Max in its fleet, Delta Air Lines announced they would pay out $1.6 BILLION in bonuses to their 90,000 employees.
According to CNN, each of the 90,000 Delta Air Lines employees will be eligible for a bonus of 16.6% of their salaries which breaks out to a bonus equivalent of 2 months’ salary. It’s pretty shocking to see such a large American company treat their employees well but it’s being heralded as a fantastic way of doing business.
Delta Air Lines had a very good year last year. Instead of just verbally thanking its employees for the company’s strong performance, it announced it would pay them $1.6 billion in profit-sharing bonuses.
That means every eligible employee will receive a check next month for 16.6% of their annual salary, which is the equivalent of an additional two months’ pay.
“Delta would be nothing without our 90,000 people. They deserve all the credit,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on LinkedIn.The profit payout to employees for 2019 is a record amount. It is also the sixth year in a row that the company has paid out more than $1 billion to workers, a Delta spokesperson said. The profit-sharing plan started in 2012 following Delta’s merger with Northwest.
The company’s profit-sharing bonus is on top of all the other financial benefits it normally provides employees, such as a 401(k) match and other bonus programs for rank-and-file workers, according to the spokesperson. (via CNN)
Imagine someone like Comcast doing this. I can’t. I can’t even imagine a world where I’d read an article like this about Comcast. Not in a thousand years.
According to Joseph Blasi who is director of the Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing at Rutgers University, what Delta is doing is ‘good business’ because profit-sharing with employees in this manor encourages all sorts of active participation within the company:
“Research shows that cash profit-sharing plans, combined with a supportive corporate culture that encourages employees to offer suggestions and participate in solving company problems, can reduce turnover and improve corporate performance and personal motivation.”
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“For years I would get beaten up by Wall Street. They thought the profits were theirs. … [But] Wall Street has actually come full circle and they realize Delta is the most awarded airline because of its employees. And they’re happy we’re making certain that our employees know that,” Bastian said at a local chamber of commerce event in Marietta, Georgia, last week. (via CNN)
The CNN article goes on to state that Delta Air Lines isn’t alone in awarding their employees bonuses on such a massive profit-sharing scale. In the past six years, GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler have written more than $5 billion in checks to their employees. The equivalent of 6 months’ worth of pay (in bonuses) since 2015.
Youc an click here to read the full article over on CNN.com.