Delta Air is Offering Employees $1,000 in Emergency Savings to Counter the Cost of Living Squeeze On American Households

Delta Air Lines is offering tens of thousands of its US-based employees up to $1,000 in emergency savings to help in the cost of living squeeze that is continuing to put pressure on American households.

Chief executive Ed Bastian says he decided the Atlanta-based carrier should fund the emergency savings program after learning that around half of Americans don’t have $1,000 immediately available in the event of an unexpected life event or emergency.

“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,” Bastian explained earlier this month.

Bastian was talking at an event hosted by Operation HOPE, a nonprofit which aims to improve financial literacy and economic self-sufficiency through training programs and workshops.

Delta has worked with the organization since 2021, but earlier this year, Delta decided to add an extra incentive for employees to take part in the financial training courses by adding the emergency savings program by Fidelity Investments.

When an employee completes the training course, Delta adds $750 to their account and then matches the first $250 that employees deposit in their savings account. The airline also covers taxes so that employees can access the full $1,000 in the event of an emergency.

So far, more than 33,000 Delta workers have signed up 21,500 have accessed the $1,000 payment by completing the course. Around 29% of eligible employees have started the education program, and more than half of the participants are employees of color.

The program is also encouraging long-term savings goals, with participating employees so far saving more than $1,000 of their own money on average into the emergency savings fund. On average, employees are saving $74 per month in direct-payroll deductions.

“What other company do you know of that is giving you free money to make sure you are on top of your financial education?” commented Loretta Day, a Delta flight attendant and graduate of the financial training program.

Day had been racking up credit card debt and was struggling to put anything into her dwindling savings before signing up for the financial training program. Initially sceptical, Day says the course helped her cut unnecessary spending on dining out and visits to Bath & Body Works, which quickly added up.

“I am a better steward over my finances because of Delta. I have emergency money and am more educated on my finances, investments and stocks,” Day noted.

Financial training is a fairly common benefit at many large companies, but Bastian hopes other corporations will follow its lead and directly contribute funds for their employee’s savings accounts.