Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024
Delta Air Lines, Inc. Pension Plan
Data updated 2026-08-25
- $7.3B
- Total assets Very large vs avg
- 15,222
- Participants Very large workforce
- 100th
- Percentile by assets National rank
- $476,510
- Avg per participant High balance/head
Official DOL plan name: Delta Retirement Plan · Sponsored by Delta Air Lines, Inc. · Georgia · Transportation & Warehousing
$7.3B in assets, 15,222 participants
Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s Delta Retirement Plan reported $7.3B in total assets and 15,222 participants in its 2024 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.
- #3,282 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)
Coverage in Georgia
Delta Retirement Plan covers 15,222 participants in Georgia, 14x the typical Georgia plan (state average ~1,096 per filing). Assets: $7.3B.
- #3,282
- in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)
- -0.8%
- assets change YoY
- 73×
- vs typical plan assets (national mean)
The plan reported a net loss of $65M for the year, a single-year figure driven by markets and benefit payments, not a measure of plan health.
Delta Retirement Plan's outsized position by total assets
Delta Retirement Plan vs every filed plan by assets
End-of-year total assets · plan year 2024 · DOL Form 5500
$7,253,434,311 Highest reported value at or above every one of 123,620 filed plans
Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.
Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2024
Delta Retirement 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 Retirement Plan is a mega filing (15,222 participants), the rightmost band on the breakdown.
What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings
plan year 2023 → plan year 2024
- Delta Retirement Plan reported net income fell from -$45M in the plan year 2023 filing to -$65M in the plan year 2024 filing.
- Delta Retirement Plan reported participants fell from 15,601 in the plan year 2023 filing to 15,222 in the plan year 2024 filing.
- Delta Retirement Plan end-of-year assets fell from $7.3B in the plan year 2023 filing to $7.3B in the plan year 2024 filing.
DOL schedule card
Filing strip 580218548 · Delta Air Lines, Inc. PY 2024 · Defined Benefit (Pension)
Delta Retirement Plan · $7.3B · 15,222 · 100th
- EOY $7.3B
- 5500 15,222
- ASSETS 100th
- PCT Defined Benefit (Pension)
- EIN near Steelworkers Pension Trust
- RANK ind #3282
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 Retirement Plan in the asset neighbourhood
Georgia filing particulars
| Total Assets (Beginning of Year) | $7.3B |
|---|---|
| Net Assets (End of Year) | $7.2B |
| Net Income | -$65M |
| Employer EIN | 580218548 |
| Plan Effective Date | 1971-02-01 |
| 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 $21.2B · 43,465
- The Southern Company Pension Plan $15.3B · 25,843
- UPS/Ibt Full-Time Employee Pension Plan $12.2B · 69,627
- UPS Pension Plan $9.3B · 157,587
- Cox Enterprises, Inc. Pension Plan $7.1B · 22,501
Scale composition for Delta Retirement Plan
Delta Retirement Plan reports $7.3B in end-of-year assets across 15,222 participants (0.059% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.016% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $476,510 per participant (3.4x the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2024 was -$65M.
This plan identity (EIN 580218548, plan #002) has 3 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2024 , with end-of-year assets moving from $7.4B to $7.3B (-1.4%) while covered participants moved from 15,951 to 15,222 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.
| Plan year | Participants | EOY assets | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 15,951 | $7.4B | Open filing |
| 2023 | 15,601 | $7.3B | Open filing |
| 2024 · index core | 15,222 | $7.3B | This page |
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)
- Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Pilot Employees (Defined Benefit (Pension), $4.5B, 1,352 participants)
- Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Contract Employees (Defined Benefit (Pension), $4.0B, 6,579 participants)
Delta Retirement Plan's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount
Outside Georgia, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Steelworkers Pension Trust in PA ($7.2B); by covered participants it is Northwest Carpenters Retirement Plan in CA (15,177 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.
Closest by plan assets
Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($7.3B here).
- Steelworkers Pension Trust (PA) $7.2B · 46,110
- Deseret Mutual Master Retirement Plan (UT) $7.1B · 10,478
- Boilermaker-Blacksmith National Pension Trust (MO) $7.5B · 28,958
- L3harris Technologies Consolidated Pension Plan (FL) $7.6B · 4,996
Similar participant headcount
Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (15,222 participants); asset peers above are excluded.
- Northwest Carpenters Retirement Plan (CA) 15,177 · 45 off
- Co-Op Retirement Plan (MO) 15,151 · 71 off
- Frontier Communications Pension Plan (CT) 15,141 · 81 off
- Bakery & Confectionery Union & Industry International Pension Fund (MD) 14,954 · 268 off
DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.