Delta Air Lines Bombardier Boeing 757-200 aircraft as seen arriving, in final approach to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York JFK.
Nicolas Economou | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Delta Air Lines, which received billions of dollars in federal aid last year, is paying bonuses to administrators ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than $ 100,000 to offset wage cuts at the start of the year. pandemic last year.
Front-line workers, such as flight attendants, pilots and others in non-managerial positions, do not receive bonuses.
Last year, Delta cut executive pay and also cut workers ’hours by 25 percent to help overcome the pandemic’s drop in travel demand, a policy that has been criticized by some lawmakers. The Atlanta-based airline avoided involuntary interventions or job cuts, in part thanks to its 18,000 employees, about 20% of Delta’s pre-pandemic workforce, which accepted purchases and early retirement packages. ‘last year. The carrier recorded a record loss of $ 12.4 billion in 2020.
“While all people in the Delta were affected by the worst year in our history, after a thorough review of the remuneration of all levels of our organization below the executive officer level, we identified levels which were disproportionately affected as a result of last year’s events and we made a time adjustment payment, ”Delta said in a statement.
Delta received $ 5.6 billion in federal aid last year as part of a $ 25 billion program passed as part of the March CARES Act that banned airlines from cutting employees. The carrier expects to receive $ 2.9 billion this quarter as part of an extension of this program that Congress approved late last year, Delta said in a presentation last month.
The pilots’ union criticized the move, which was first reported on Sunday by travel blog View, saying it went against the spirit of the CARES Act, the federal payroll support that airlines received l last year in exchange for not inadvertently cutting workers.
“While we are confident that Delta will recover quickly once the country goes through the pandemic, paying special bonuses to management while the airline continues to burn money is premature and inappropriate,” said Chris Riggins, a spokesman for the Association. of Airline Pilots, in a statement. “We also believe that the payment of bonuses limited to management is incompatible with the spirit of the CARES Act. It was an unfortunate and short-sighted decision.”
Delta says it is following the terms of the CARES Act, which put limits on the compensation of top executives. Executive compensation may vary depending on the performance of the company. Delta says it continued to pay rewards to frontline and other employees for achieving operational goals, but those amounts are lower than bonuses.
The carrier and its U.S. competitors are on track to receive additional federal payroll aid.
On Friday, the House approved a $ 1.9 billion coronavirus relief package that includes a third round of federal payroll support for airlines. If the bill goes through the Senate, U.S. airlines would get $ 14 billion in exchange for keeping workers paid until Sept. 30. U.S. airlines have already received $ 40 billion in payroll support in two other coronavirus aid packages.