Delta pays bonuses to managers

ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines is paying out thousands of dollars of bonuses to its managers, even though there is no profit-sharing payout for workers this year.

Atlanta-based Delta, which cut employees’ pay last year amid a steep decline in travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is giving managers, directors and senior vice presidents one-time payouts ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The management bonuses also come as airlines get billions of dollars in federal stimulus funding and push for passage of American Rescue Plan legislation including billions more in airline aid.

Delta said in a written statement: “While all Delta people were affected by the worst year in our history, following a comprehensive pay review of all levels in our organization below the executive officer level, we identified levels that were disproportionately impacted as a result of last year’s events and made a onetime adjustment payment.”

Many managers and officers are paid significantly more than the airlines’ ground workers and flight attendants.

Delta last year cut employees’ hours and pay by 25%, along with manager pay cuts, and cut officers’ pay by 50% before restoring full pay this year.

The airline’s historic $12.4 billion loss for 2020 meant that employees also got no profit-sharing bonuses. A year ago the company paid out $1.6 billion in profit-sharing to employees, amounting to about two months of pay. Employees have gotten smaller “shared rewards” payments based on operational performance and travel passes.