Delta managers get bonuses, but nada for workers

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 one-time 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 percent, along with manager pay cuts, and cut officers’ pay by 50 percent 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.

The company says upper-level managers had bigger cuts in total compensation, since a greater share of their pay is at risk and dependent on the company’s performance.

The CARES Act funding for airlines included limits on executive compensation that applied to officers and others with total compensation above certain thresholds. Delta said it did not violate CARES Act provisions with the bonuses.

The View from the Wing blog by Gary Leff, which first reported the bonuses Sunday, said Delta is ‘voluntarily taking on additional payroll cost’ as the federal government considers more airline payroll subsidies though the Delta bonuses also suggest airlines ‘may be on the cusp of recovering.’