Our Culture - Delta Air Lines

Delta People

Delta is dedicated to the philosophy of putting our people first – a philosophy that goes back to the earliest days of the company. That’s why we’re proud to have been consistently named a Great Place to Work by Fortune and Glassdoor. Delta is consistnetnly named on Forbes most influenential lists including Forbes’ list of Best Workplaces for Women in the U.S., Best Employers for Diversity and America’s Best Employers for Veterans. For the seventh year in a row, Deta also scored 100% on the Disability Equality Index, ranking as one of the nation’s Best Places to Work for Disabiltiy and Inclusion.

Sharing in Success and Sacrifice

Delta employees have long come together to share in Delta’s successes as well as in times of sacrifice. Since 2007, Delta has rewarded employees with industry-leading profit-sharing payments: more than $9.2 billion since 2010 (including nearly $6 billion in the five years leading up to the pandemic). Delta's 2019 employee profit-sharing payout was $1.6 billion equaling 16.6% of our employees' earnings – or nearly two months of additional pay for each employee. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Delta took a people-driven approach and was the only global U.S. airline to avoid involuntary furloughs for our ground and flight attendant groups thanks in large part to the sacrifice of Delta employees. While the road to recovery has proven to be long and choppy, Delta people have proven to be equally resilient. Throughout the pandemic, 40,000 employees volunteered to take an unpaid leave of absence and nearly 17,000 employees chose to depart the company through a voluntary package, preserving jobs for others. In 2021, we did not have a full-year profit but did report a profit for the year's second half. Consistent with our philosophy of sharing our success, Delta issued a special profit-sharing payment of approximately $100 million. Each employee received a flat amount of $1,250 (if hired before Jul. 1, 2021) or $625 (if hired on or after Jul. 1, 2021). This year, Delta continued to make progress toward pre-pandemic profit sharing by awarding more than $550 million – about 5.5% of each employee’s 2022 pre-tax earnings – representing one of the most generous profit-sharing programs in the U.S.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

At Delta, we know that diversity, equity and inclusion are core to connection – and we can’t connect the world if we don’t reflect the world. Delta’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion takes on a number of forms. For instance, we focus on strategic initiatives through community programs, a robust 20-year supplier diversity program, and internal and external pipelines that aim to remove economic, racial and gender barriers. Amid the global reckoning over historic racial inequality and injustice, Delta has been listening, learning and taking steps to drive systemic change, steps which include doubling the percentage of Black Officers and Directors by 2025 and increasing Black representation on our Board of Directors; removing qualification barriers for jobs that do not require college degrees; expanding our recruiting efforts to include more Historically Black Colleges and Universities; doubling our spending with Black-owned businesses by 2025 and actively supporting national and state legislation that fights discrimination and advocates for justice. Delta’s Close the Gap progress over the past year is a result of a concerted effort across the enterprise to ensure the senior leadership team becomes more reflective of the diversity of our frontline workforce.

Community Engagement

Delta’s mission to connect the world starts with our commitment to being a strong partner to the communities where our employees live, work and serve. Focused on the pillars of Environment, Equity, Education and Entire Wellness, Delta invests its time and resources to care for the planet and the people within it. As a company driven by purpose, giving back to our communities has been core to Delta and its culture for nearly 100 years. Delta people give from the heart, and it shows. We have built or rehabbed 283 homes in 13 countries with Habitat for Humanity, and Delta volunteers have built 37 playgrounds in 16 communities across the U.S. in partnership with KABOOM! Delta supports education through our partnerships with Atlanta Public Schools, Clayton County Schools, 3DE and over 30 Junior Achievement chapters across five continents. We also support 16 YMCA chapters to provide afterschool programs and teach children to swim. Delta partners with food banks across three continents to fight food insecurity and Delta people packed over 100K meals to help feed the hungry in 2022. A proud supporter of Pride events around the globe, Delta celebrates diversity, equity and inclusion and is a staunch advocate in the fight against human trafficking. Delta has been named an honoree of The Civic 50 by Points of Light, the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service, for the past six years in a row. Delta has also been named Best Workplaces for Diversity, Women and Millennials by Fortune and Great Places to Work. Delta has been on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For list, the only airline to do so, and recognized for work in Community Engagement by Forbes, PR News, The Nomi Network, Barron's and more.

Delta and the American Red Cross

Delta’s longest standing nonprofit partner is the American Red Cross—a partnership that began in 1941 during WWII when Delta people collected blood for the war effort. Delta is now the largest corporate blood drive sponsor with the American Red Cross for six years running, generating over 15,000 units of blood in 2023 (FYE 6/30). In addition to blood donations, Delta is also an Annual Disaster Giving Program member at the $1 million level, which allows the Red Cross to proactively respond to disasters when they happen.

Supporting our Troops and Veterans

Delta’s commitment to our troops and veterans is part of our history, and it is why active-duty members of U.S. armed forces are given priority boarding on every Delta flight. Delta also honors our dedicated Armed Service Members and Veterans through national sponsorships and employee engagement throughout the year by supporting organizations like the Best Defense Foundation, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation, Camp Southern Ground, the Fisher House Foundation, Luke’s Wings, Folds of Honor, Marine Toys for Tots and the USO to name a few. Each November, Delta supports veterans, active service members and their families by matching customer-donated miles to Fisher House Foundation’s Hero Miles Program and Luke’s Wings. Each year, Delta and its customers donate millions of miles to these two organizations that are used to provide air travel to wounded, injured or ill service members, veterans and their families. Delta is also a proud supporter of Marine Toys for Tots at the national level and in communities across the U.S. each holiday season. Each year, Delta TechOps employees raise funds to purchase and assemble over 1,000 bicycles for kids in Atlanta as well as holding toy drives in many markets to make the holidays brighter for those in need.