Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2024

Delta Air Lines, Inc. Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$219M
Total assets Near avg plan size
584
Participants Below avg headcount
95th
Percentile by assets National rank
$375,682
Avg per participant High balance/head
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Official DOL plan name: Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees · Sponsored by Delta Air Lines, Inc. · Georgia · Transportation & Warehousing

$219M in assets, 584 participants

Delta Air Lines, Inc.'s Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees reported $219M in total assets and 584 participants in its 2024 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 95th 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.

  • #3,062 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)

Where Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees sits by assets

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees sits in the top 5% of all filed plans by assets, $219M for 584 participants (~$375,682/participant), up 2.3% in 2024.

#3,062
in Transportation & Warehousing (3,299 peers)
+2.3%
assets growth YoY
2.2×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees's outsized position by total assets

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

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

$219,398,383 Top 5% higher than 95% 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

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees among mid-size filed plans by headcount

Plan-year 2024 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees sits mid-pack in the medium band (584 participants).

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2023 → plan year 2024

  • Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees reported net income fell from $17M in the plan year 2023 filing to $5M in the plan year 2024 filing.
  • Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees reported participants fell from 628 in the plan year 2023 filing to 584 in the plan year 2024 filing.
  • Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees end-of-year assets rose from $214M in the plan year 2023 filing to $219M in the plan year 2024 filing.

See the national 2023→2024 release diff →

Plan-year Form 5500 strip

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

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees · $219M · 584 · 95th

  • PHOTO $219M
  • PHOTO 584
  • PHOTO 95th
  • PHOTO Defined Benefit (Pension)
  • PHOTO near Northwest Bank Pension Plan
  • PHOTO ind #3062

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 Salaried Employees in the asset neighbourhood

Consolidated Pension Plan of Tufts Medicine, Inc.Consolidated Pension Plan of…$220MNorthwest Bank Pension Plan$220MNorthwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried EmployeesNorthwest Airlines Pension P…$219MWeill Cornell Medical College Non-Exempt and Frozen Retirement PlanWeill Cornell Medical Colleg…$219MPaul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP Employees' Pension & Retirement PlanPaul Weiss Rifkind Wharton &…$219M
End-of-year total assets ($M) among Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees and nearest nationwide Defined Benefit (Pension) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2024.

Scale-class filing particulars (2024)

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$214M
Net Assets (End of Year)$219M
Net Income$5M
Employer EIN580218548
Plan Effective Date1946-10-01
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.

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Georgia, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. -50000050000100000150000200000 -50510152025 Total assets ($B) Participants Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees, Total assets ($B): 0.219398383 · Participants: 584Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried EmployeesUPS 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
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Georgia, assets vs. participants
Compare Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees side-by-side with 3 peers →

Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount

Outside Georgia, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Northwest Bank Pension Plan in PA ($220M); by covered participants it is Gatx Corporation Noncontributory Pension Plan for Salaried Employees in IL (583 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (584 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 Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees assets move in 2024? ▼
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees edged up modestly - up 2.3% during 2024, from $214M to $219M. Reported net income was $5M.
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 Salaried Employees rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees ranks in the 95th 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 Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Northwest Bank Pension Plan in PA ($220M, 1,158 participants).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans cover a similar participant headcount to Northwest Airlines Pension Plan for Salaried Employees? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is Gatx Corporation Noncontributory Pension Plan for Salaried Employees in IL (583 participants, $227M 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.