Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$357M
Total assets Above avg plan size
14,012
Participants Very large workforce
96th
Percentile by assets National rank
$25,455
Avg per participant Low balance/head
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Official DOL plan name: Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan · Sponsored by Delta Air Lines, Inc. · Georgia · Transportation & Warehousing

$357M in assets, 14,012 participants

Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan reported $357M in total assets and 14,012 participants in its 2024 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 96th 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.

  • #3,131 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)

Coverage in Georgia

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan covers 14,012 participants in Georgia, 13x the typical Georgia plan (state average ~1,096 per filing). Assets: $357M.

#3,131
in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)
+246.5%
assets growth YoY
3.6×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan's outsized position by total assets

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2024 · DOL Form 5500

$356,678,542 Top 4% higher than 96% of 123,620 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 2024

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan's mega-plan peer group by participant headcount

Plan-year 2024 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan is a mega filing (14,012 participants), the rightmost band on the breakdown.

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2023 → plan year 2024

  • Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan end-of-year assets rose from $103M in the plan year 2023 filing to $357M in the plan year 2024 filing.
  • Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan reported net income rose from $103M in the plan year 2023 filing to $254M in the plan year 2024 filing.
  • Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan reported participants rose from 13,044 in the plan year 2023 filing to 14,012 in the plan year 2024 filing.

See the national 2023→2024 release diff →

Published 5500 schedule card

Filing strip 580218548 · Delta Air Lines, Inc. PY 2024 · Defined Benefit (Pension)

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan · $357M · 14,012 · 96th

  • BOOK $357M
  • VS-ST 14,012
  • BOY 96th
  • SCH Defined Benefit (Pension)
  • EBSA near Omaha Construction Industry Pension Plan
  • PART ind #3131

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 →

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan in the asset neighbourhood

Unite Here Local 25 and Hotel Association of Washington, DC Pension PlanUnite Here Local 25 and Hote…$357MC.V. Starr & Co., Inc. Retirement PlanC.V. Starr & Co., Inc. Retir…$357MDelta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance PlanDelta Air Lines, Inc. Market…$357MOmaha Construction Industry Pension PlanOmaha Construction Industry …$356MBaker Hughes Company Pension PlanBaker Hughes Company Pension…$356M
End-of-year total assets ($M) among Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan and nearest nationwide Defined Benefit (Pension) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024.

Georgia filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$103M
Net Assets (End of Year)$357M
Net Income$254M
Employer EIN580218548
Plan Effective Date2023-10-01
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.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Georgia, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. 050000100000150000200000 -50510152025 Total assets ($B) Participants Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan, Total assets ($B): 0.356678542 · Participants: 14012Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance PlanUPS Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 21.2364871 · Participants: 43465UPS Retirement PlanThe Southern Company Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 15.319238036 · Participants: 25843The Southern Company Pension PlanUPS/Ibt Full-Time Employee Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 12.219463258 · Participants: 69627UPS/Ibt Full-Time Employee Pension PlanUPS Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.280234765 · Participants: 157587UPS Pension PlanDelta Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 7.253434311 · Participants: 15222Delta Retirement Plan
Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Georgia, assets vs. participants
Compare Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan side-by-side with 3 peers →

Scale composition for Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan reports $357M in end-of-year assets across 14,012 participants (0.003% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.015% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $25,455 per participant (18% of the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2024 was $254M.

This plan identity (EIN 580218548, plan #024) has 2 Form 5500 filings on file from 2023 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $103M to $357M (+246.5%) while covered participants moved from 13,044 to 14,012 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.

Plan year Participants EOY assets Filing
2023 13,044 $103M Open filing
2024 · index core 14,012 $357M This page

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

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount

Outside Georgia, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Omaha Construction Industry Pension Plan in NE ($356M); by covered participants it is Highmark Retirement Plan in PA (13,824 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (14,012 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan assets move in 2024? ▼
Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan surged - up 246.5% during 2024, from $103M to $357M. Reported net income was $254M.
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 Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan ranks in the 96th percentile by end-of-year assets among 123,622 plans that reported assets for plan year 2024 (in the top 5% of all filed plans by assets).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans are similar in size to Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Omaha Construction Industry Pension Plan in NE ($356M, 1,402 participants).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans cover a similar participant headcount to Delta Air Lines, Inc. Market Based Cash Balance Plan? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is Highmark Retirement Plan in PA (13,824 participants, $3.1B in assets).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2024.

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.