PLANSPONSOR - June - July 2022 - 24

BEST PRACTICES | 2022 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR WINNERS
Corporate DC >$1b
Delta Air Lines
Atlanta, Georgia
D
elta Air Lines has long maintained a
goal of helping every 401(k)-plan participant
retire on schedule. And its efforts to
achieve that have been fueled by corporate earnings.
In 2020, for instance, the company distributed
$1.6 billion in profit-sharing payments.
Yet the airline, headquartered in Atlanta,
was not counting on COVID-19 to drain so
many participants' savings. Due to reduced work
schedules and other pandemic-related financial
woes, 25,000 of the 69,000-plus 401(k) participants
took a CARES [Coronavirus Aid, Relief
and Economic Security] Act withdrawal, notes
Josh Jessup, Delta's general manager for global
retirement and mobility. " This totaled more than
$1 billion out of their 401(k) savings. "
The company further learned, from wellbeing
surveys it ran throughout 2021, that 35%
of employees said financial stress was affecting
their mental health; 35% also expressed concerns
about their retirement readiness.
" We have a people-first culture, " Jessup
says. " We make a concerted effort to connect
with our people to ensure they have what they
need when they need it. "
So Delta and its recordkeeper, Fidelity
Investments, " examined combined retirement
data-401(k) and pension-across demographics
such as location, job type, race/ethnicity, gender,
income and loan status, " Jessup says. " We also
reset our retirement readiness baseline. " They
did this by conducting a retirement income analysis,
projecting how the CARES Act withdrawals
would degrade those workers' retirement readiness.
The analysis yielded a three-strategy plan.
First, to " emphasize full financial health, "
the sponsor offered immediate help to workers
who were struggling now. It partnered with
Operation Hope to provide free, on-site
coaching in basic personal finance.
For all employees, Jessup says, the company
offered incentives for completing financial wellness
checkups, attending webinars and meeting
one-on-one with a Fidelity representative. Delta
24 PLANSPONSOR.COM June - July 2022
also called on its Wellbeing Champions-40
frontline volunteers trained to educate their
peers about the financial tools and programs
available to them-to up their efforts.
Second, to boost saving through plan
design, Delta upgraded the eligibility of its
7,000 Ready Reserves, who work in part-time,
flex or fill-in roles. Now in Delta's main plan, if
they meet the 6% employer match they can save
15%-the 12% plus an automatic contribution
of 3%, Jessup says.
And third, to " raise engagement through
targeted help, " the sponsor used data to segment
employees according to their overall financial
needs and any actions-e.g., withdrawing
money or lessening their deferrals-they took
because of the pandemic. From here, the sponsor
created communications in an array of media.
The results have been significant, says
Kristina Deary, senior vice president, relationship
management at the recordkeeper: Almost
20,000 workers had financial planning conversations
with Fidelity. Over 2021, 93% of defined
contribution participants contributed 6% or
more, up from 87% in December 2020; 80%
now defer 15% or more, a 12% increase from a
year ago, she says.
Beyond addressing needs the pandemic
raised, Delta has been working toward benefits
equity. The company proactively engages with its
diverse workforce on a broad range of financial
topics, retirement being just one. When it examined
its data to see how student loan debt might
be affecting participants' retirement readiness, it
saw some demographic discrepancies.
" If we're not connecting with certain
segments of the population, we want to make
sure we correct this, " Jessup says, referring to
the endeavor underway to engage with African
American employees. " We're meeting with our
business resource groups to understand how we
can find out what challenges they're facing and
how we can help support them. "
-Karen Wittwer and Noah Zuss
Finalists
Marvell Technology, Inc.
Santa Clara, California
Raytheon Technologies
Corporation
Waltham, Massachusetts
More on PLANSPONSOR.com/
awards/2022-plan-sponsor-year
Josh Jessup,
General Manager, Global
Retirement and Mobility
" We have a
people-first
culture. We
make a
concerted
effort to
connect with
our people to
ensure they
have what
they need
when they
need it. "
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PLANSPONSOR - June - July 2022

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