Delta Air Lines gives employees 5% raise from $563 million profit share pool

Airlines Delta Airlines 737 800 is prepared for its next flight at John F Kennedy International Airport New York City
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Delta Air Lines staff will receive a 5% raise effective April 1, 2023, the airline’s CEO Ed Bastian said in a memo to all employees on February 7, 2023 

The announcement will bring the airline’s cumulative pay rises to 9% in the last year, with 4% given in May 2022 and 5% in April 2023.  

According to the memo, the raise includes:  

  • A 5% base pay increase for ground and flight attendant employees worldwide at all steps of the pay scale. 
  • A 5% pool for eligible merit employees worldwide. 

“All employees worldwide are included, other than those covered by an industry or government requirement or collective bargaining agreement,” Bastian said.  

Raise backed by $563 million profit share pool 

The pay increase comes just weeks after Delta employees learned that they had earned $563 million in profit sharing after it reported strong earnings and a Full Year profit in 2022, the airline noted in a recent statement.  

Delta employees will receive a profit-sharing payment on February 14, 2023 that equates to 5.57% of their eligible 2022 earnings, the statement continued. 

The airline has delivered 12 base pay increases that add up to an average of 80% increase in base pay in the last 15 years, the statement added.  

In December 2022, Delta Air Lines also offered a 34% cumulative pay raise to its pilots over three years.