Minnesota Workers Are Now Getting a Sweet Valentine’s Bonus

These Minnesota employees are set to have an incredible Valentine's Day, but the reason why has nothing to do with love-- although they all likely will love the extra money in their paychecks!

If your employer saw fit to give you a raise in pay for this new year, or if your company has a profit-sharing plan, that's an impressive perk. Although it's probably still not as much of a perk as the massive bonus these employees here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes are getting this Friday.

Delta Air Lines Announces Massive Profit-Sharing Payout for 2026

So which employees are we talking about... and how much are they getting? Well, that would be employees of Delta Air Lines, and they are going to be getting a LOT. That's because Delta announced last month that its employees here in Minnesota and across the globe will receive $1.3 billion as their share of the airline’s 2025 profits.

While that's a massive amount, it is just slightly lower than the $1.4 billion dollars in profit-sharing that Delta employees received in 2025-- an amount that still holds the record for the largest share ever.

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Delta Air Lines is based in Atlanta, Georgia, but has its second-largest hub here in the North Star State at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport near Bloomington. I still kind of think of Delta as a 'Minnesota' airline, seeing as it merged with Minnesota's Eagan-based Northwest Airlines back in 2008.

How Much Will Minnesota Delta Employees Receive in Their Bonus?

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According to a corporate release, Delta says it has a current workforce of around 100,000 full-time employees. And, this MPR story says that when the Delta-Northwest merger was completed in 2010, Delta promised to employ at least 10,000 people here in Minnesota, with the total likely being closer to 12,000.

A Huge Valentine's Day Win for the MSP Delta Workforce

And those thousands of employees will likely have a happy Valentine's Day this year, as this Friday, February 13, 2026, is the day Delta is issuing each employee its share of that $1.3 billion. Delta says those checks are likely to be a significant amount for most employees:

Delta employees worldwide will receive $1.3 billion as their share of the airline’s 2025 profits, resulting in an 8.9% estimated payout of eligible annual earnings, or more than four weeks of extra pay on average.

Delta said it is able to share that impressive amount of profits with its employees thanks to another profitable year in 2025. According to a release, this year’s $1.3 billion payout is a top 5 payout in the airline’s history and is expected to be more than the industry combined. Since 2022, Delta says it will have shared nearly $5 billion in profits with employees, or more than 18 weeks of pay.

As we said, Delta merged with Eagan-based Northwest Airlines back in 2008. Northwest was one of those brands that was once huge here in Minnesota (kind of like Dayton's also was), but it no longer exists, as do many of the following famous brands. Keep scrolling to see how many YOU remember!