Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2022
Delta Air Lines, Inc. Pension Plan
Data updated 2026-08-25
- $3.5B
- Total assets Very large vs avg
- 6,939
- Participants Above avg headcount
- 100th
- Percentile by assets National rank
- $507,228
- Avg per participant High balance/head
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.
- #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.
- #3,850
- in Transportation & Warehousing (3,876 peers)
- -1.6%
- assets change YoY
- 35×
- vs typical plan assets (national mean)
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.
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees's outsized position 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
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.
Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2022
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees's large-plan peer group by participant headcount
Plan-year 2022 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees lands in the large band (6,939 participants).
Form 5500 schedule snapshot
Filing strip 580218548 · Delta Air Lines, Inc. PY 2022 · Defined Benefit (Pension)
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees · $3.5B · 6,939 · 100th
- SCH $3.5B
- EBSA 6,939
- PART 100th
- TYPE Defined Benefit (Pension)
- NET near Building Service 32bj Pension Fund
- BOOK ind #3850
Stamps derive from this plan's Form 5500 line items (assets, participants, type, EIN, cohort placement) - not a quality rating of the sponsor. Read with Transportation & Warehousing retirement plans → · Plans in Georgia →
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees in the asset neighbourhood
Georgia filing particulars
| Total Assets (Beginning of Year) | $3.6B |
|---|---|
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $3.5B |
| Net Income | -$59M |
| Employer EIN | 580218548 |
| Plan Effective Date | 1970-01-01 |
| Filing Status | FILING RECEIVED |
Sponsor Plan History (Delta Air Lines, Inc.)
Sponsor-wide plan assets over time
All Delta Air Lines, Inc. plans reported in each filing year
- Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
- $51.4B 27.83790401128044% vs 2022
- 2024 filing year
| 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.
- UPS Retirement Plan $22.0B · 52,821
- The Southern Company Pension Plan $14.8B · 25,663
- UPS/Ibt Full-Time Employee Pension Plan $11.9B · 68,592
- UPS Pension Plan $9.6B · 151,682
- Delta Retirement Plan $7.4B · 15,951
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:
- Delta 401(k) Retirement Plan (401(k), $19.0B, 89,836 participants)
- Delta 401(k) Retirement Plan for Pilots (401(k), $15.9B, 14,473 participants)
- Delta Retirement Plan (Defined Benefit (Pension), $7.3B, 15,222 participants)
- Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Pilot Employees (Defined Benefit (Pension), $4.5B, 1,352 participants)
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount
Outside Georgia, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Building Service 32bj Pension Fund in NY ($3.5B); by covered participants it is Twin City Hospital Workers Pension Plan in MN (6,940 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.
Closest by plan assets
Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($3.5B here).
- Building Service 32bj Pension Fund (NY) $3.5B · 54,120
- Hsbc - North America (U.S.) Pension Plan (IL) $3.5B · 3,542
- The Hartford Retirement Plan for U.S. Employees (CT) $3.5B · 8,100
- Honda Retirement Plan (CA) $3.6B · 10,177
Similar participant headcount
Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (6,939 participants); asset peers above are excluded.
- Twin City Hospital Workers Pension Plan (MN) 6,940 · 1 off
- Chs Inc. Pension Plan (MN) 6,900 · 39 off
- Henry Ford Health System Allegiance Combined Pension Plan (MI) 6,893 · 46 off
- Morgan Stanley Employees Retirement Plan (NY) 6,991 · 52 off
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2022. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.