Delta Air Lines is giving $1,000 to employees to help them get started with savings, keyed off of a finding that half of Americans don’t have $1,000 in emergency cash.
According to their CEO,
When we looked at the fact that over 50 per cent of Americans don’t have $1,000 they can put their hands on today in the event of a financial emergency, and the amount of stress and insecurity that creates, I said I can’t solve that for the world, but I can solve that for the 100,000 people at Delta Air Lines.
Over 33,000 employees have signed up (29% of those eligible).
- Employees sign up for a training course
- They receive $750 upon completion
- And then Delta matches the first $250 they deposit into a savings account
- Delta grosses up pay to cover the taxes on the money as well, so they’re actually giving each employee more than the headline number rather than employees receiving less.
About 21,500 have completed the course so far. Participating employees have saved on average about $1,000 of their own money so far, and payroll direct deposits into this separate savings account average $74 per month.
This is an interesting experiment for Richard Thaler-type reasons, and it would be great to study whether this nudge actually leads to greater saving behavior on the part of airline employee recipients. (Some of you will recall that Nobel laureate Thaler had a cameo in The Big Short helping Selena Gomez explain the ‘hot hand fallacy’ that whatever is happening in the moment will continue into the future.)
Although we’re already seeing that most people don’t sign up for (more or less) free money, when it’s opt-in.
Six years ago airlines were handing out $1,000 bonuses across the board prompted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act which went into effect in 2018. It may be one of the most underrated and underappreciated pieces of legislation in recent memory. It was the largest corporate tax reduction in U.S. history, and caused firms with average tax benefits to increase domestic investment by about 20% relative to firms receiving no tax change. U.S. firm total capital rose 9%. And this growth netted out any reduction in tax revenue.
I am uncomfortable with the notion, though, that it would have been better to have employees qualify for those bonuses with a course and earn matched savings. But even considering nudge effects I prefer worker choice in how they spend their money. And of course some people really do need to spend their marginal dollars, valuing the ability to fix a car or get health care and food for family over future consumption enabled by saving.
As an add-on – which Delta wasn’t required to offer – it’s unquestionably a net positive.
Are pilots eligible?
If inflation were low, this savings activity would help the employee. If inflation were high, this savings activity would hurt the employee. I’ll leave it to the individual passenger to decide if transient inflation is low or high.
Anyway, for the past few months, I’ve experienced good service from Delta customer-facing staff.
This is no different than a grant that is given by organizations to achieve certain societal objectives.
Companies have to do for society what schools are not doing – financial literacy among young people is horrendous.
The fact that people can voluntarily participate but receive significant benefits including paid taxes for the grant is very unique among US companies.
It will be interesting to have an outside academic track the program and help determine what it achieves and determine what can be replicated elsewhere.
Thing 1, this plan has been out for about a year and I do not think they qualify. If they did qualify they would demand more money, stating they could not live on such a miniscule amount. Then they would threaten to go on strike if it was not made only available to them, as the world would not exist if we’re not for pilots. At least that’s what they believe.
Unique like flying to Tulum? Lots of companies pay a gross-up to cover taxes.
of course it went over your head.
How many companies, Mr. Mocker, give employees money to start a saving account?
Of course you won’t answer.
You absolutely can’t stand to admit that Delta is doing something to improve its communities and its employees – and a union didn’t have anything to do with it.
Tell us how those unionized FAs at AA, UA and WN are doing with new contracts MONTHS after Delta UNILATERALLY raised the salary of its FAs.
Your headline says, “Delta Air Lines Handing Out $1,000 To Workers To Encourage Good Savings Habits.”
Sometimes, Delta Air Lines hands out 1,000 Delta SkyMiles® to passengers to encourage bad savings habits.
“ Tell us how those unionized FAs at AA, UA and WN are doing with new contracts MONTHS after Delta UNILATERALLY raised the salary of its FAs.”
You mean like how every other non union group gets increases, “unilaterally”. Lol
You need to calm down sometimes.
It’s a nice gesture that delta did with this program but your weird fetish with unions is amusing. Delta screwed over its FAs during the pandemic and invested in other airlines to the tune of billions before giving their FAs a raise.
In the words of a TS, you need to calm down….
Chill Timmy. “including paid taxes for the grant is very unique among US companies.” Not unique. At all. Your writing sucks.
It is interesting that Timmy hates unions so much – considering he was fired from Delta. Maybe a union would have saved your job.
It is an odd take @maxpower to say “Delta screwed over its FAs during the pandemic” when United and American together furloughed tens of thousands of flight attendants while Delta did not furlough any..?
thankyou, Gary.
it is the same selective fact gathering that MAX demonstrates in EVERY conversation that involves Delta.
And The Mocker can’t seem to answer the question and provide examples of other companies that provide cash grants to their employees – grossed up for taxes – in order to encourage saving for emergency expenses.
It’s really not hard. If lots of company do what Delta did, it shouldn’t be hard to find 3 examples.
As I said before and will say into 2024: there are a handful of people on the internet that can’t stand to admit that Delta is doing something better than the rest of its competitors and will resort to every tactic including mocking those that highlight those facts to argue against that reality.
“ provide examples of other companies that provide cash grants to their employees ”
Never said anything about that. Just that it is not “unique” for companies to pay gross-ups to cover taxes. It’s not my fault your writing sucks and you are not clear.
Timmy, your writing is poor. This is not what I said:
“ And The Mocker can’t seem to answer the question and provide examples of other companies that provide cash grants to their employees”
You said “The fact that people can voluntarily participate but receive significant benefits including paid taxes for the grant is very unique among US companies.” NOTHING UNIQUE about gross-ups. Nada. Nothing. Write better.
I know exactly what you wrote. You cherrypick what you rage on because you don’t want to provide a list of companies that provide cash to incentivize savings. Whether it is grossed up is a side show
Just tell us that very few companies give cash to assist employee saving
Delta’s move is unique in the airline industry
Timmy – I had no complaint with your statement about Delta. But you can never just say anything truthfully – you have to make stuff up. Like gross-ups being unique to Delta. Which is exactly what you wrote. If it is a “side show” then why did you write it? No rage here. Just making fun of you for making stuff up.
Buh-bye…. while Trolling Tim Is Fun, it is fruitless to debate with someone who can’t even admit what he wrote was poorly constructed. Off to work… bye Timmy!!!
of course you all of a sudden have to “go to work” now that the logical and factual inconsistency of your statements are called out.
the original statement I made before Mr. Mocker and Max the mindless showed up was
“The fact that people can voluntarily participate but receive significant benefits including paid taxes for the grant is very unique among US companies.”
you harped on the “including” part of the statement and ignored the rest while Max demonstrates his selective history.
Walk away. you lost.
Delta, not AA or UA, did something unique.
OK, Timmy, I’ll bite. Your writing sucks. You wrote a sentence that modified something with “unique”, then you flip out when that is pointed out. No one lost anything except you. Your writing is piss poor. Trolls don’t lose anything. Trolls gain when your blood pressure is raised. Hah! And you were fired from Delta. And banned from Airliners.net. So sad.
Delta offers premium payments to bolster its elite staff members’ premium savings accounts.
the only troll is someone that repeatedly focuses on anything possible to admit that HE decided to jump into a discussion by focusing on a secondary issue instead of addressing the primary issue which Gary correctly identified.
Delta took a leadership position in American business in addressing the high numbers of Americans that don’t have enough money to pay a $500 unexpected bill and they did it by GRANTING their employees the money for a savings account w/ only a little financial education required.
American and United and certainly no union did it.
Delta did it and it frosts some people’s crotches to admit that Delta yet again did something that addresses real human issues.
a.net, writing style and everything else is immaterial.
Some people are hellbent – using any made up name they can think of – to argue against what everyone else knows is ground breaking.
btw, you told us several posts ago because you had to go to work.
Apparently that was either a lie or you have no self-control no matter where you are or what you are supposed to be doing.
Timmy – only one of us got fired from Delta. Yet your love shows no bounds.
Ah, just catching up by reading the oldies (but only 5 days old) but goodies where Tim picks fights with everyone:
https://viewfromthewing.com/deltas-so-called-premium-discontent-over-in-flight-meals-exposed-roundup/
Gary included. Everyone points out times when you are wrong, and you throw hissy fits. Sad.
Hey Gary
It isn’t a weird take
Every single FA received full pay for their furloughed time. There was never a historical loss in pay.
Delta is the company that furloughed their FAs by 25% in summer 2020, it wasn’t aa or UA. Delta found a loophole in the taxpayer money destined for their employees and took full advantage. They cut their hours by 25% as soon as they could.
Something aa and united never did: exploit the American taxpayer to keep more of the bailout money. That was delta alone.
Timmy
You are so entertaining the way you build your life around all this lol
Yeah… delta cut wages by 25% in the height of the pandemic
Aa and ua didn’t. Aa and united spend their taxpayer money on employees, as intended. Delta cut hours by 25%
You won’t find a single FA at aa or ua impacted by the furlough
They were all back paid.
Delta meanwhile used those taxpayer dollars to Invest in equity friends instead of giving their employees a raise first
Facts hurt
@MaxPower “Every single FA received full pay for their furloughed time. There was never a historical loss in pay.”
This is false. There was a gap between the end of PSP1 (CARES Act) requirements not to furlough or reduce pay – which ended September 30, 2020 – and the second government subsidy package which was passed at the end of December but made retroactive to December 1, 2020. Furloughed flight attendants at United and American did not receive October or November 2020 pay from their airlines.
Meanwhile Delta was under the exact same requirements as both United and American with respect to pay.
Mr Mocker.
it clearly was you that got fired because I haven’t ever been fired from anywhere.
you are incapable of admitting that you were locked and loaded the minute you saw a response from me on this topic and you shot yourself in the foot because you can’t read.
So we have page after page of your insults because you failed to comprehend what Delta actually did – and Gary made abundantly clear was the focus of the story.
As much as you want to do all you can to pick a fight, I conveyed clearly why I dislike Gary’s anecdotal stories about passenger behavior or even service issues – whether it be about interior disrepair or food or anything else – and it has nothing to do with Delta.
Each of the big 4 serve over 100 million passengers on fleets with tens of thousands of seats. It is a given that something will not be up to standard.
I don’t even care if he focuses on airline employee actions because there are a whole lot fewer of them and the company has a whole lot better control (or should) of their employees.
Your divide strategy won’t work.
You jumped into a discussion w/ a cherrypicked focus and have argued incessantly on everything except the core issue about Delta helping its employees develop better financial habits and they GAVE money w/ few strings. You can’t admit that.
And MAX continues to display his lack of REAL knowledge but instead shows his cherrypicked and biased understanding of history.
thank you both for ensuring that this story stays active all while making fools of yourselves.
At least you are smart enough to run around w/ bags on your heads so no one knows who makes the stupid statements you both make.
Timmy, do you have reading comprehension issues?
You: “You can’t admit that.”
But I did admit it. So did Max. Look above. We both said Delta did right by this. But you, with your poor writing, said something foolish – that gross-ups were unique to Delta. That is just plain wrong. You are the king of cherry-picking data – as was pointed out in the thread from 5 days ago. And it is you who spends all your time writing a 7 paragraph response. That is sad.
Gary
You’re wrong. Sorry. But that just isn’t true.
There was a furlough time. But there was back pay associated with psp2. Full backpay to the time of furlough.
No United or aa FA ever lost pay.
With respect to pay under psp1
Delta was the only carrier to dock hours. Aa and ua did
Aa and United did not 😉
Mr. Mocker,
you are so self-deceived, you can’t even read what you wrote, let alone remember.
Never once have you said that what Delta did was good.
You immediately jumped in and argued about grossing up – which is hardly the focus of the discussion.
And then YOU, not me, turned the discussion into a rabid assault even as argue how I have gone off the rails.
You are just as you are incapable of admitting you are wrong as you are good with reading comprehension. And the same is true of MAX.
You want to pick a fight.
You are incapable of admitting someone knows more than you.
You are incapable of admitting that Delta and not American or United is making a difference in the lives of its employees by doing something unique.
Go back to work.
Or quit telling us how you are doing anything productive while it is clear you are nothing but a troll
And Jesus, tim
Get a life
You got fired from delta
You have done zero relevant in the industry for decades.
Some people have.
Put the drinks down, Timmy 😉
You’re sounding silly
Nobody disputes that the topic or this article is awesome for delta!
But your weird rabbit trails about UA and Aa are strange and ill informed and reek of someone without any real knowledge
Gary
I sounded more than dogmatic than I prefer
My firm memory was pay backdated to the time of the end of psp1
If I’m wrong, I’m wrong but I did recall something specific on the issue
“rabid assault”
Timmy, that describes your responses. And you know you were fired. And banned from other sites.
@MaxPower, respectfully, PSP1 expired September 30, 2020 and PSP2 was signed December 27, 2020 and was retro to December 1.
Here’s the internal document from American on PSP2:
if you two were even half right about anything, you should be able to provide proof.
Gary is smoking Max w/ facts and data – he has the advantage of being able to embed images which none of the rest of us can do – but he highlights exactly how badly these two themselves understand the airline industry and yet they trash other people including making up employment data.
The basic fact of this conversation is that Mr. Mocker jumped into a conversation, didn’t bother to read what was discussed, and now is doubling down on stupid so he can do everything possible – along w/ Max – to refuse to acknowledge Delta did something positive, let alone ground-breaking.
***I*** get a charge out of seeing morons like this humiliate themselves. At least Mr. Mocker throws away usernames w/ the frequency that … oh never mind.. this is a family site.
Tim
You need a life and google
Can’t speak to your dislike of Gary and graphs though but wow…
https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Treasury_PSP2_FAQ2.pdf
Gary is a smart fella, tim
But put down your drinks buddy
You really need more friends
“ The PSP Extension Law requires a passenger air carrier or contractor that received funds under the original Payroll Support Program (PSP1) and that also participates in PSP2 to recall certain involuntarily terminated or furloughed employees, compensate returning employees for lost pay and benefits (offset by any amounts received by the employee from a passenger air carrier or contractor as a result of the employee’s termination or furlough, including, but not limited to, furlough pay, severance pay, or separation pay), and restore the rights and protections for such returning employees as if such employees had not been involuntarily terminated or furloughed. These terms are described in detail in the PSP2 Agreement that each PSP2 participant enters into with Treasury.”
Waiting for your apology, tim
Not everyone spends all day In the comments section to reply to you. 😉
Sorry, Gary
I’m having a fun day and did t see your note but I still think you’re wrong on this one, per the treasury department and other reasons
Timmy
You’re weird 🙂
Links require moderator approval but it’s always amusing to see you make a fool of yourself on a topic you don’t know about 🙂
If I’m wrong, I’m wrong but the faq from treasury is a bit damning on the topic, to my point
Get a life, tim
And again
Delta unilaterally furloughed hours to their FAs in psp1
Aa and UA did not
Btw, tim
What a standard to require from others: proof
Try it on yourself 😉
Also, tim
Good for you to stop lying about your a.net ban
How long has it been now that you’ve called me a liar for bringing that up? The names you’ve called me for that and bringing up that delta fired you…
It’s great to see you grow in truth, for once 😉
YOU and you only are the one that is lying.
I have never denied I was banned from a.net and neither do I care. If that is your focus on what matters in life, you are truly to be pitied.
And Gary has repeatedly told you that your version of history regarding the pandemic is patently false – just like your interpretation of pretty much everything else – but you persist and double down in trying to argue.
I SAID Gary can embed images and no one else can.
The fact that you reply talking about links shows how hopeless incapable of reading and comprehending what is said
For one your DA sidekick might have a better strategy than you; burn the MAX username and start over. If you are going to be as ignorant as you are, at least don’t keep using the same username.
And while you continue to lie about history, you still evade the issues which are that 1. Delta did nothing that every airline other also did and 2. Delta employees have all received pay raises in the past year, smoething AA and UA and WN cannot say and 3. DL did something unique w/ providing limited strings cash for employees to open savings accounts.
You and your side kick can argue all you want – and I am sure you will – but you are wrong on EVERY topic about which you try to discuss because you are blinded by your own inability to admit that Delta runs a better company.
btw, what’s with the multiple posts minutes apart? Are you really that eaten up by all of this?
You need help lol
You can’t even read what I write because you’re so strangely blinded by a company that fired you
Delta does many things week 🙂
I can’t control that Gary (or his staff) has a life and doesn’t approve my link to the treasury department within 5 minutes
I’m glad he has a life
It’s 902p in Atlanta on a thursday
I’m jet lagged way ahead of you on time and can’t sleep
What’s your excuse lol
*delta does many things well lol
you can’t stand that I have the mental and technical ability to respond to posts long after you are worn out.
the only one that needs help is you for continuing to peddle falsehoods, including about my employment status with any company, and for your repeated inability to go to read what is written and respond to that and not a million other tangential issues you want to throw in.
Go to bed if you need to. don’t blame me for your lack of ability to manage your own life.
love the * but we all know that. We don’t have to review all of that.
We are simply discussing Delta’s savings plan for employees.
You and your sidekick, as usual, turned what should be a simple discussion into a CF and I am not talking about the other blogger.
Turn over a new leaf in 2024 and admit this is all way over your head. you can start your NY resolutions tomorrow morning.
Lol
You’re funny and sad
There’s nothing cool about sitting on your computer waiting to see blog comments 😉
You are more entertaining than the office reruns though
I’ll give you that 🙂
I hope you find someone that takes your mind off delta in 2024
That’s my wish for you
What a world it would be if someone swept tim off his feet…
Date advice: don’t talk about delta
I thought you were tired – but YOU are hanging around the computer waiting for my response.
How TYPICALLY hypocritical of you.
I hope someone gives you a reason to no longer be the wet blanket that you try to be – but do so very, very poorly.
I’m presuming you must be single and bored?
Your posts are as illogical as thinking I was fired by Delta but then accuse me of being their #1 online cheerleader
@MaxPower – You may argue that airlines should have paid for October and November retroactively, but that is not what happened.
I wrote, by the way, about American’s tortured read of the law which led them to tell people that were pushed out that if they had taken other jobs they could not come back, even though the point of the law was to keep people connected to the airline so that airlines would be ready to fly when passengers returned.
Now, my read is that airlines were right that they only had to pay retro to December 1. But right or wrong, that is what actually happened.