Delta Employees Take Home their Piece of Largest Profit Sharing Payout in U.S. History

Airline thanks employees with Guinness World Record-setting greeting card

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Feb 12, 2016, 07:00 ET

ATLANTA, Feb. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) employees today receive their portion of the company's $1.5 billion profit sharing earned in 2015 – the largest payout in the history of corporate profit sharing programs. Individual payouts equal more than 21 percent of employees' eligible 2015 earnings.

Delta Employees Take Home their Piece of Largest Profit Sharing Payout in U.S. History

"We are often asked what makes Delta different," said Delta's Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson and President Ed Bastian in a memo sent to employees today. "The difference is you. Our unique people-focused culture, built on the Rules of the Road and working together, is the advantage that none of our competitors can match."

Employee celebrations across Delta's global network today honor employees for their record-breaking performance. To take record-setting one step further, the airline erected a 50-foot tall greeting card at the Delta General Offices, which included the names of every Delta employee – all 80,000 of them.

The airline also thanked employees with ad placements in U.S. newspapers, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, among others.

Delta reported a historic adjusted pre-tax profit of $5.9 billion for 2015 and had an industry-leading year in operational excellence including a total of 161 days with zero mainline cancellations and an on-time rate of 85.9 percent.

In addition to profit sharing, Delta's Shared Rewards program pays out monthly bonuses for meeting corporate operational goals throughout the year.

In 2015, Delta employees earned more than $94.9 million in Shared Rewards as the company achieved history-making operational and financial results. Delta has paid out $4.1 billion to employees in profit sharing and Shared Rewards during the past five years.

The airline will operate on a conservative 2016 budget with the goal of maintaining a sustainable business that is committed to paying down debt, investing in its employees and rewarding customers and shareholders.

Check the Delta News Hub for photos and updates, and follow updates throughout the day on Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, #DeltaProud.

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 180 million customers each year. Delta was named to FORTUNE magazine's top 50 World's Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the fourth time in five years. Additionally, Delta has ranked No.1 in the Business Travel News Annual Airline survey for an unprecedented five consecutive years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 328 destinations in 57 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 800 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit,Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK and LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle,Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products and services, and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on the Delta News Hub, as well as delta.com, Twitter @DeltaNewsHub, Google.com/+Delta, Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.