Delta records largest employee profit sharing payout in U.S. history

Delta Air Lines employees announced Friday they’ve received their portion of the company's $1.5 billion profit sharing earned in 2015 -- the largest payout in the history of corporate profit sharing programs.

The individual payouts equal over 21 percent of employees' eligible 2015 earnings.

To celebrate, Delta placed a 50-foot tall greeting card at the Delta General Offices, which included 80,000 names of every Delta employee.

Delta reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of $5.9 billion for 2015 and had an industry-leading year in operational excellence including a total of 161 days with zero mainline cancellations and an on-time rate of 85.9 percent.

Going forward, Delta announced they’ll operate on a “conservative 2016 budget with the goal of maintaining a sustainable business that is committed to paying down debt, investing in its employees and rewarding customers and shareholders.”