Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2023

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$3.8B
Total assets Very large vs avg
6,817
Participants Above avg headcount
100th
Percentile by assets National rank
$564,022
Avg per participant High balance/head
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Official DOL plan name: Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees · Sponsored by Delta Air Lines, Inc. · Georgia · Transportation & Warehousing

$3.8B in assets, 6,817 participants

Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees reported $3.8B in total assets and 6,817 participants in its 2023 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.

  • #3,335 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,362 peers)

Coverage in Georgia

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees covers 6,817 participants in Georgia, 6.2x the typical Georgia plan (state average ~1,096 per filing). Assets: $3.8B.

#3,335
in Transportation & Warehousing (3,362 peers)
+9.2%
assets growth YoY
39×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

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 2023 · DOL Form 5500

$3,844,940,138 Highest reported value at or above every one of 127,068 filed plans

This plan $0 $2,050,000,000 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 2023

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees's large-plan peer group by participant headcount

Plan-year 2023 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 (6,817 participants).

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2022 → plan year 2023

  • Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees reported net income rose from -$59M in the plan year 2022 filing to $326M in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees end-of-year assets rose from $3.5B in the plan year 2022 filing to $3.8B in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees reported participants fell from 6,939 in the plan year 2022 filing to 6,817 in the plan year 2023 filing.

See the national 2022→2023 release diff →

Plan-year Form 5500 strip

Filing strip 580218548 · Delta Air Lines, Inc. PY 2023 · Defined Benefit (Pension)

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees · $3.8B · 6,817 · 100th

  • RANK $3.8B
  • RANK 6,817
  • RANK 100th
  • RANK Defined Benefit (Pension)
  • RANK near Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Nfl Player Retirement Plan
  • RANK ind #3335

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

Llns Defined Benefit Pension PlanLlns Defined Benefit Pension…$3.9BThe Savannah River Nuclear Solutions, LLC Multiple Employer Pension PlanThe Savannah River Nuclear S…$3.9BDte Energy Company Retirement PlanDte Energy Company Retiremen…$3.9BBert Bell/Pete Rozelle Nfl Player Retirement PlanBert Bell/Pete Rozelle Nfl P…$3.9BNorthwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract EmployeesNorthwest Airlines Pension P…$3.8B
End-of-year total assets ($B) among Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees and nearest nationwide Defined Benefit (Pension) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023.

Georgia filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$3.5B
Net Assets (End of Year)$3.8B
Net Income$326M
Employer EIN580218548
Plan Effective Date1970-01-01
Filing StatusFILING 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
$35B$40B$45B$50B$55B 202220232024 $40.2B $51.4B ▲ +27.8%
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 05101520 Total assets ($B) Participants Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees, Total assets ($B): 3.844940138 · Participants: 6817Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract EmployeesThe Southern Company Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 15.596954837 · Participants: 25241The Southern Company Pension PlanUPS/Ibt Full-Time Employee Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 12.285105757 · Participants: 70241UPS/Ibt Full-Time Employee Pension PlanUPS Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.733665646 · Participants: 153217UPS Pension PlanCox Enterprises, Inc. Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 7.396009274 · Participants: 24023Cox Enterprises, Inc. Pension PlanDelta Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 7.309889555 · Participants: 15601Delta 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 Contract Employees side-by-side with 3 peers →

Scale composition for Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees reports $3.8B in end-of-year assets across 6,817 participants (0.031% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.007% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $564,022 per participant (4.1x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $326M.

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 Open filing
2023 6,817 $3.8B This page
2024 · index core 6,579 $4.0B Open filing

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

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 Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Nfl Player Retirement Plan in MD ($3.9B); by covered participants it is Jefferson Defined Benefit Plan in PA (6,814 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (6,817 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees assets move in 2023? ▼
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees grew at a solid clip - up 9.2% during 2023, from $3.5B to $3.8B. Reported net income was $326M.
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 127,072 plans that reported assets for plan year 2023 (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 Bert Bell/Pete Rozelle Nfl Player Retirement Plan in MD ($3.9B, 2,484 participants).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans cover a similar participant headcount to Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is Jefferson Defined Benefit Plan in PA (6,814 participants, $1.6B in assets).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2023.

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.