Delta Air Lines Woo’s Employees With ‘Thank You’ Aircraft Livery Spelt With All 90,000 Employees Names

Delta Air Lines has gone on an all-out offensive to woo its employees, unveiling a special aircraft livery with the words ‘Thank You’ emblazoned across the side of an Airbus A321 jet as a dedication to the “world’s best employees”. The words are made up of the names of all of Delta’s 90,000 employees.

The special livery was unveiled on the same day that Delta will pay out $1.6 billion in profit sharing bonuses – for the majority of the Atlanta-based airlines staffers, that will equate to nearly 17 per cent of their normal average wage and is a 26 per cent rise on 2019’s bonus pot.

In comparison, American Airlines announced it had accrued just $213 million to be shared out amongst all of its employees.

“Delta would be nothing without our 90,000 people worldwide,” explained the airline’s chief executive, Ed Bastian. “They deserve all the credit for our success, and we are proud to recognize their extraordinary work with a $1.6 billion payout.”

Bastian noted that it was the sixth year in a row that Delta’s profit-sharing bonus had topped $1 billion. The fact that it was paid out on Valentines Day was unlikely to be an accident.

Delta’s love note of sorts comes as the carrier faces a growing threat to its traditionally solid relationship with employees. In recent months, there’s been the increasing possibility of its flight attendants and ground workers choosing to unionize, disquiet over the latest airline “toxic uniform” scandal and the risk of a showdown with its pilots.

Joanne Smith, the airline’s head of HR, though points out the Delta employees remain at the heart of what makes the carrier so uniquely popular amongst U.S.-based airlines.

“We’re often asked what sets Delta apart, and the answer is simple: our people,” she explained. Smith noted that the bonus was a way to reward hard work – the airline admitted that many staffers had been overworked during a particularly hard summer in 2019.

It took a week to complete the aircraft customization which features a total of 48 custom decal panels at Delta’s in-house TechOps print shop and hangar in Atlanta.