Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2022

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-08-11

$3.5B
Total assets
6,939
Participants
100th
Percentile by assets
$507,228
Avg per participant
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Official DOL plan name: Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees · Sponsored by Delta Air Lines, Inc. · Georgia · Transportation & Warehousing

$3.5B in assets, 6,939 participants

Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees reported $3.5B in total assets and 6,939 participants in its 2022 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 100th percentile by assets among filed plans. Figures are as reported by the plan sponsor to the Department of Labor, not audited or endorsed by PlainRetire.

  • 100th percentile by assets (of 139,126 plans)
  • #3,850 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,876 peers)

Coverage in Georgia

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees covers 6,939 participants in Georgia, 6.3x the typical Georgia plan (state average ~1,096 per filing). Assets: $3.5B.

$3.5B
total plan assets (2022 EOY)
6,939
covered participants
100th
percentile by assets (of 139,126 plans)
$507,228
avg assets per participant

The plan reported a net loss of $59M for the year, a single-year figure driven by markets and benefit payments, not a measure of plan health.

Where Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees sits by total assets

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2022 · DOL Form 5500

$3,519,657,684 Highest reported value at or above every one of 139,123 filed plans

This plan $0 $2,010,000,000 every filed plan with reported assets, bucketed by value

Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.

Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2022

State
Georgia
Industry
Transportation & Warehousing

Participants vs Georgia filers

In Georgia, the average filing covers about 1,096 participants across 3,635 plans. Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees reports 6,939 participants - 6.3x that state average ($3.5B EOY assets).

Georgia filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$3.6B
Net Assets (End of Year)$3.5B
Net Income-$59M
Employer EIN580218548
Plan Effective Date1970-01-01
Filing StatusFILING RECEIVED

Sponsor Plan History (Delta Air Lines, Inc.)

$35B$40B$45B$50B$55B 202220232024 $40.2B $51.4B ▲ +27.8%
Total plan assets by year, all Delta Air Lines, Inc. plans on file
Year Plans Participants Total Assets
2022 11 112,289 $40.2B
2023 12 136,516 $46.0B
2024 12 145,368 $51.4B

Nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans in Georgia

Peer Defined Benefit (Pension) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Georgia, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. -50000050000100000150000200000 0510152025 Total assets ($B) Participants Northwest Airlines P…, Total assets ($B): 3.519657684 · Participants: 6939Northwest Airlines P…UPS Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 22.022408253 · Participants: 52821UPS Retirement PlanThe Southern Company…, Total assets ($B): 14.822086516 · Participants: 25663The Southern Company…UPS/Ibt Full-Time Em…, Total assets ($B): 11.867504693 · Participants: 68592UPS/Ibt Full-Time Em…UPS Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.568572149 · Participants: 151682UPS Pension PlanDelta Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 7.354895526 · Participants: 15951Delta Retirement Plan
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Georgia, assets vs. participants
Compare Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Cont… side-by-side with 3 peers →

Scale composition for Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees reports $3.5B in end-of-year assets across 6,939 participants (0.029% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.007% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $507,228 per participant (3.7x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2022 was -$59M.

This plan identity (EIN 580218548, plan #016) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $3.5B to $4.0B (+12.3%) while covered participants moved from 6,939 to 6,579 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.

Plan year Participants EOY assets Filing
2022 6,939 $3.5B This page
2023 6,817 $3.8B Open filing
2024 · index core 6,579 $4.0B Open filing

The same sponsor also keeps 4 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:

Similar-Sized Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans Nationally

Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states closest to Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees by total assets, not by location.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees assets move in 2022? ▼
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees edged down modestly - down 1.6% during 2022, from $3.6B to $3.5B. Reported net income was -$59M.
How have Delta Air Lines, Inc. plan assets changed over time? ▼
Across 3 plan years on file (2022-2024), Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s sponsor-wide assets grew 27.8%, from $40.2B to $51.4B.
Where does Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees ranks in the 100th percentile by end-of-year assets among 139,126 plans that reported assets for plan year 2022 (among the largest 1% of all filed plans).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans are similar in size to Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Building Service 32bj Pension Fund in NY ($3.5B, 54,120 participants).

Next read for Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Cont…

Filing takeaways

Ways to act on Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees's numbers.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2022.

Source: DOL EFAST2 filing system (efast.dol.gov) - original filing retrieval by EIN 580218548.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA). See our methodology for details.