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Ed Bastian

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The profile

Delta Air Lines chief executive since May 2016. Under the Payroll Support Program Delta booked $8.5 billion of federal grants and $3.5 billion of 1% Treasury loans, and gave the Treasury warrants on 11.1 million shares.

Identity and role

Edward H. Bastian has been chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines since May 2016 and is a member of its board. Delta is based in Atlanta and trades on the New York Stock Exchange as DAL. Delta's biography says he leads more than 100,000 employees and that 2026 is his tenth year as CEO.

Biography / career arc

Bastian joined Delta in 1998 as vice president and controller and became senior vice president for finance and controller in 2000. He left in April 2005, was chief financial officer of Acuity Brands in June and July 2005, and returned in July 2005 as executive vice president and chief financial officer. He was president of Delta from September 2007 to May 2016, and from October 2008 to December 2009 he was also chief executive of Northwest Airlines. He was 65 when Delta filed its 2022 annual report.

Pandemic-relief / PPP-EIDL role

Airlines had their own relief program. The CARES Act and its two extensions paid carriers to keep workers on the payroll, and the money had to be used "exclusively for the payment of employee wages, salaries and benefits," in the words of Delta's 10-K. Delta's financial statements show what it took:

  • Grants: $3.9 billion recognized in 2020 and $4.5 billion in 2021, about $8.5 billion in all. Delta booked them as a reduction of operating expense.
  • Loans: $3.5 billion of unsecured Payroll Support Program loans at 1% interest, due 2030 to 2031, still outstanding at the end of 2022.
  • Warrants: the Treasury received warrants on 11.1 million Delta shares, in three blocks: 6.8 million at $24.37 (PSP1), 2.4 million at $39.73 (PSP2) and 1.9 million at $47.80 (PSP3).

Delta suspended its dividend in March 2020, and the CARES Act and the program extensions barred dividends through September 2022. In 2020 Delta recorded an operating loss of $12.5 billion, which included $8.2 billion of restructuring charges for fleet impairments and voluntary early-retirement and separation programs. The separation programs alone accounted for a $3.4 billion charge.

Their own relief

The grants and loans above were Delta's relief. Airlines received it through the Payroll Support Program rather than PPP, and the SBA's PPP data show no loan to Delta Air Lines. The one Georgia borrower whose name begins "Delta Air" is the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum. No relief payment to Bastian personally appears in the documents cited here.

Bastian has not been charged with any crime. The oversight question has been how airlines used the money. On September 8, 2022 Representatives Carolyn B. Maloney and James E. Clyburn asked the Treasury's deputy inspector general to review the payroll support paid to airlines, "including an accounting for how the funds were disbursed and used by each airline recipient, and whether any funds were used for buyouts or staff reductions." Their letter said three leading airlines had cut a substantial share of their workforces and urged employees to retire early; among its citations is a May 2020 report of Delta's buyout offers. These are the lawmakers' claims; the letter records no finding against Delta.

Where they are now (2025–2026)

Bastian remains chief executive. Delta had about 95,000 full-time-equivalent employees at the end of 2022, after hiring about 25,000 that year. On June 15, 2023 the board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.10 a share, the first since the March 2020 suspension, citing more than $10 billion of debt repaid over two years. On May 10, 2024 the Treasury announced it would auction the warrants it held in publicly traded airlines. See also Airline Payroll Support: Bailout With Strings.

Sources

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