The Delta Airlines Perks & Benefits That Attract Employees

Delta Airlines is an award-winning company with an excellent reputation in the air passenger transportation sector. Some of the stand-out Delta Airlines employee perks are its effective leadership and how the company treats its employees. 

In fact, Delta CEO, Ed Bastian, won the Best Executive Leadership Award at the 2021 Airline Strategy Awards. The award recognizes outstanding leadership and planning through the Covid-19 pandemic.

It’s often said that employees leave managers, not jobs. So, strong leadership through challenging periods is a major benefit of working for Delta. It can make employees’ work lives much more secure. 

However, a secure job often isn’t enough to retain talented employees on the lookout for better opportunities. So, let’s take a look at the Delta Airlines employee perks and benefits that keep their staff happy.

Eight Delta Airlines Employee Perks and Benefits

1. Profit-Sharing

Employees sometimes say they don’t have time to use the benefits they’re offered. So it’s best to show them the money first. If you decide to provide a profit portion to staff, make sure they understand how the system works. Otherwise, they might feel misled.

Delta Airlines lets its Red Coats (that’s their cool title for employees) in on profit-share from their first day with the company. This helps attract new talent all the time.

Before the pandemic, Delta shared at least $1 billion in profit with employees annually, which was close to one fifth of its income. In 2020, this hit a staggering $1.6 billion paid out to its 90,000 employees.

Sadly, after the pandemic hit, the airline suffered a $12.4 billion loss, and profit-sharing was put on hold. But the airline is weathering the storm much better than many other carriers worldwide. So, the future looks promising for it to recover and resume profit-sharing at some point. 

Related: Coca-Cola's Profit Sharing Program

2. Attractive Retirement Savings Plan

Today, fewer Americans decide to have children than compared to the past. As such, employees are motivated to ensure that they can care for themselves after retirement. 

Delta offers its employees a 401(k) retirement plan to ease their financial situation when they can no longer work. This plan includes 401(k) savings with tax benefits. When an employee joins the company, Delta automatically places them on the plan, diverting a percentage of their paycheck to a retirement investment.

Employees can also choose how much they want to put away for retirement and the type of retirement plan they prefer. This helps them feel more in control of their future.

The employer adds an automatic contribution of 3% of the employee’s salary. They also provide a 100% match for the first 6% contributed by the employee.

Related: Publix's 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan

3. Training and Professional Development

Delta is highly rated for training courses and mentor programs to assist both new and long-time staff. Over the years, they have continued to improve the quality of the training provided significantly. 

Pilots can attend training at Delta Air Lines Aircrew Training Center in Georgia. There are about nine other training facilities around the US. Trainee flight attendants take an 8-week course and get paid while they are learning.

Customer service agents and supervisors attend workshops to help them learn how to deal with difficult, unexpected circumstances. An ongoing interactive training series is also held for all employees on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

They also send managers on a development program at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Plus, their pilots can attend a special career program at Western Michigan University, among other programs, especially for Delta staff.

4. Competitive Life Insurance

Delta Airlines’ perks include basic and optional life cover for full-time employees and dependents. This includes accidental death and injury insurance.

The insurance pays out a lump sum to beneficiaries to a maximum of $50,000 on the basic plan. The maximum is $500,000 if employees take the optional cover. The final amount paid out depends on the individual case.

5. Comprehensive Medical Insurance, Including Dental and Optometry

Delta’s benefits include various healthcare insurance options for employees to choose from. The options depend on where they live.

The airline lets employees decide between different dental coverage options. This gives them more power of choice to meet their needs. 

The company partnered with a popular service provider to help meet their staff’s eye-care needs. Dental and vision cover lifts another weight off employees’ shoulders and reduces what they have to pay out of pocket when they need essential healthcare.

Related: Pizza Hut Benefits - The 5 Benefits Employees Love

6. Paid Leave Benefits

The longer an employee stays with Delta, the more leave they are entitled to. This includes vacation leave and time-off of up to 5 weeks a year. Sick leave comes standard.

On top of that, the airline adds bereavement, family responsibility, maternity, and paternity leave. Expecting and new moms can take six weeks paid leave plus 16 weeks unpaid leave, which is four weeks more than average. 

Another employee benefit is military leave. This applies whether employees are on active or inactive duty in the US forces and is a key consideration for prospective employees in the airline industry. These individuals often have a military background, such as security guards and pilots. 

Overall, it’s a fine example of how companies can appeal to potential employees’ career and personal goals.

Related: Samsung's Paid Leave Benefits

7. Free and Discounted Flights

Delta Airlines employee perks include occasional free and discounted tickets. Family members can also get discounted tickets.  

Travel benefits encourage employees to take vacations away from home so that they return to work feeling more refreshed and motivated.

Flight discounts are also available for Delta’s Ready Reserves. The reserves are part-time and temporary employees on customer service and airport duty, who help the company keep up with periods of erratic demand.

8. Gym Membership

The Delta workforce has been rated as one the most healthy group of employees in recent years. This is partly owing to free and subsidized memberships at Delta Air Lines Corporate Fitness Centers.

Conclusion

Delta Air Lines really goes the extra mile for employees. They are now ranked number 20 on the Forbes World’s Best Employers list. They don’t just offer the usual sick leave and occasional bonus.

The company is also ranked among the 50 most community-minded companies in America today. Its employee perks and benefits are sure to have contributed to this positive company image. 

If you hope to follow in the footsteps of Delta, you now know how to incentivize your top talent. For more ideas on what leading businesses are doing for their workforce, check out our blog. We’ve covered companies such as Google, Amex, FedEx, and more.