It Pays to Be a Delta Employee

Delta employees will receive their February pay as usual next month—except the total amount will be equal to pay for February, March, and April. That's because eligible employees have gotten a profit-sharing bonus each year since 2012, and this year's payout is a record at $1.6 billion. With 90,000 employees, it works out to 16.6% of a worker's annual salary. That's equal to two extra months of pay. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reports the bonus payments will be made on Feb. 14, picks up this quote from Delta CEO Ed Bastian: "For years, I would get beaten up by Wall Street. They thought the profits were theirs." Now, "Wall Street has actually come full circle, and they realize that Delta is the most awarded airline in the world because of its employees."

Bastian called it the "best year" in the company's history, and Business Insider goes so far as to call it "perfect ... in many ways." Unlike rivals American, United, and Southwest, Delta has no Boeing 737 Max aircraft in its fleet, and so it was unaffected by the plane's grounding. The company's revenue for the year came in at $47 billion, and $15 billion of that came from the sale of premium products like upgrades and extra legroom in coach. The figure was up 9% over 2018, and that increased willingness to pay for extra comfort is an insight that Business Insider thinks the full industry would be wise to take note of. CNN reports that all full- and part-time workers will get the bonus; the only workers who are excluded are Delta officers, directors, and GMs, whose bonuses are based on performance. (More Delta Air Lines stories.)