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Moody’s Investors Service has upgraded Delta Air Lines’ debt rating to investment-grade. Moody’s senior credit officer Jonathan Root said the upgrade is based off of the airline’s work over the past several years to pay down its debt, and expectation that it will continue to do so. “The upgrade of the senior unsecured rating to Baa3 is based on the expectation of continued debt reduction, building on the significant de-leveraging of the balance sheet that Delta has achieved since 2009, as well as ongoing stability in Delta’s operations which we believe will enable Delta to continue to handle the industry's volatility,” Root said. Delta has cut down debt by more than US$10b since 2009, and reported in its latest earnings statement a $600m year-over-year decline in adjusted net debt last year, closing out 2015 with $6.7b. <br/>

Delta Air Lines announced Friday that its 80,000 employees will receive US$1.5b in profit-sharing. According to the airline, this is the largest amount ever paid out in the history of profit-sharing programs. For Delta's employees, individuals will receive the equivalent of 21% of their annual compensation. Delta's profit-sharing plan is structured to so that employees are returned roughly 10% of profits, but can escalate to 20% if the company earns more than $2.5b a year. Delta is coming off of a stellar 2015 in which the company reported adjusted, pre-tax profits of $5.9b. This latest round of profit-sharing comes on the heels the $1.1b the airline paid out to employees in Feb of 2015. In total, Delta states that it has doled out a total of $4.1b in profit-sharing and other performance rewards over the past 5 years. <br/>