Delta Employees Get $27 Million In Profit Sharing Checks
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Delta Airlines profits reached new heights last year and on Tuesday, its employees were reaping the reward.
Employees in Minnesota are splitting more than $27 million in profit sharing checks. Worldwide, Delta is paying out $264 million in profits to its employees.
Thousands of Minnesota employees will divide up the $27 million. There are 12,000 Delta Airlines employees in the state, but not everyone gets profit sharing. It goes mainly to the front line employees, which include baggage handlers, flight attendants and ticket agents among several other employees.
"These are the best employees in the business and the level of operation reliability and the way they took care of the customer was just astounding. This is just a great way to recognize them for that," said Bill Lentsch, the vice president of Minnesota's operations.
From flight attendants, to managers and the men and women helping customers the minute they're in the door at the Minneapolis-St. Pau International Airport, Tuesday's news was a welcome surprise.
"It's job security," said Dore Wagner, a veteran flight attendant of 35 years. "It's good to know the company's doing well, that we're generating profits and that those profits are shared with the employees down to us front line employees so that's a real positive."
"Sustaining a profit in what's an ever-changing industry and to be able to come out and make a profit when there's mergers and consolidations, we're just really fortunate to be on top and come out ahead," said John Ris, an in-flight training manager with Delta.
"I love Delta, I'm serious. I started out working for Northwest, Delta is the best company I've ever worked for," said Gregg Chandler.
While the money is a pleasant surprise, most already have a plan on how to spend it.
"That little bonus? That will be my vacation this year," said Wagner, "I'm thinking Thailand."
"I think I'm probably going to spend it on taking a trip to Paris with my wife and daughter," said Chandler.
Every employee will get 4.85 percent of their wages last year. That means if someone makes $50,000 a year, they'll get about $2,400. If they make $75,000, it's about $3,640 dollars and so on.
