DELTA AIR LINES, INC. (DAL) Business

Item 1. Business

Part I

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

General

As a global airline based in the United States, we connect customers across our expansive global network with a commitment to ensuring that the future of travel is connected, personalized and enjoyable. In 2025, we served over 200 million customers safely, reliably and with industry-leading customer service innovation.

Competitive Advantages and Brand Strength

As we celebrated our centennial year in 2025, we continued to differentiate Delta from the industry and to invest in extending our competitive advantages. These enduring competitive advantages, which support our trusted consumer brand, include our people and culture, operational reliability, global network, customer loyalty and financial foundation.

People and Culture

The Delta people and culture are our strongest competitive advantage. Our more than 100,000 employees provide world-class travel experiences for our customers and best-in-class service. We believe that Delta's brand transcends the industry, powered by our people's outstanding work and passion for serving our customers. For 2025, Delta was named No. 15 on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For list and was ranked No. 2 in the Forbes ranking of the World's Best Employers.

Our industry-leading profit sharing program directly aligns our employees' interests with the company's long-term success and for 2025, we are rewarding them with $1.3 billion in profit sharing payments in February 2026. The company also maintains a Shared Rewards program to incentivize operational performance, and our employees earned $67 million under this program in 2025.

Operational Reliability

We remain committed to industry-leading reliability as the foundation for our brand promise and efficiency. We are consistently among the industry's best performers, delivering the best completion factor and on-time departures and arrivals among our network carrier competitors in 2025. In recognition of our unwavering commitment to operational performance and reliability, we were named North America's most on-time airline of 2025 by Cirium for the fifth consecutive year.

Global Network

We and our alliance partners collectively serve over 150 countries and territories and nearly 1,000 destinations around the world. At the end of 2025, we offered up to 5,500 peak-day flights to more than 300 destinations on six continents.

Our domestic network is centered around core hubs in Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Salt Lake City. Core hubs have strong local passenger share, a high penetration of customers loyal to Delta, a competitive cost position and strong margins. Coastal hub positions in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK and Seattle complement our core hub positions. Coastal hubs provide a strong presence in large revenue markets and enable growth in loyalty, premium products and international service.

In 2025, we continued to focus on increasing flights at our core hubs while improving the efficiency of our operations in our coastal hubs. We continue to leverage our coastal gateways and strategic relationships with international airline partners to further expand our international service.

Internationally, we seek to bring more choice to customers through innovative alliances with Aeroméxico, Air France-KLM, China Eastern, LATAM Airlines Group S.A. ("LATAM"), Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic and WestJet. We operate significant hubs in, or have market presence in the key cities of, Amsterdam, Bogota, Lima, London-Heathrow, Mexico City, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Santiago (Chile), São Paulo, Seoul-Incheon and Tokyo. Our strategic relationships with international airlines are an important part of our business as they improve our access to markets around the world and enable us to provide customers a more seamless global travel experience across our alliance network. The most significant of these arrangements are commercial joint ventures or cooperation agreements that include joint sales and marketing coordination, co-location of airport facilities and other commercial cooperation arrangements. In some cases, we have reinforced strategic alliances through equity investments where we have the opportunity to create deep relationships and maximize commercial cooperation.

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Our global network is supported by a fleet of 1,314 aircraft as of December 31, 2025 that are varied in size and capabilities, giving us flexibility to adjust aircraft to the network. We are continuing to refresh our fleet by acquiring new and more fuel-efficient aircraft with increased premium seating and cargo capacity to replace retiring aircraft, while modifying our existing aircraft cabins to increase premium offerings and harmonize interiors. Simultaneously, we continue on our multi-year journey of fleet simplification by replacing retiring aircraft with deliveries of next-generation aircraft.

Customer Loyalty

We have continued to earn our customers' trust and preference by delivering the "Delta Difference" with operational excellence, best-in-class service and commitment to our customers. This has made Delta the airline of choice for premium customers. We continue to focus on elevating the customer experiences through premium partnerships, leveraging generational investments in our airport infrastructure and developing innovative technology initiatives such as Delta Concierge and the evolution of Delta Sync to deliver personalized support and experiences at scale. We believe our investment in customer service and experience, operations, product, airports, and technology strengthens customer perception of our brand, builds loyalty, and supports a sustained revenue premium. In 2025, various outlets recognized Delta as a trusted consumer brand, including:

•Best U.S. Airline and topped five categories in the Forbes Travel Guide’s Luxury Air Travel Awards.

•Best Airline Staff Service in North America at the Skytrax World Airline Awards, based entirely on customer feedback.

•The number one airline by corporate travel customers in the annual Business Travel News Airline Survey for the 15th year in a row and the number one U.S. airline by Condé Nast Traveler readers.

•The Best U.S. Airline by The Points Guy for the seventh year in a row.

Our award-winning SkyMiles program, discussed in further detail below, is designed to attract lifetime members and to grow customer loyalty by offering our customers a wide variety of benefits when traveling with us and our partners, and personalizing our engagement with them. We aim to increase the value of our program and to deepen customer engagement with Delta through a growing ecosystem of partnerships with premier brands and travel-adjacent experiences, further extending the value of our SkyMiles currency into our members' daily activities. These partnerships are also driving engagement among younger consumers. We expect the increased value we provide customers to deliver high-margin revenue and resilient cash flows.

Financial Foundation

Through more than 15 years of consistent strategy, investment and execution, we have fundamentally transformed our business by investing in our people, our product and our reliability to alter the commodity-like nature of air travel and improve our financial foundation. We strive to continue achieving differentiated performance by delivering sustained value creation through margin expansion, durable earnings and free cash flow. Continuing to strengthen our balance sheet and reducing debt remain financial priorities. Delta is rated investment grade by each of the three major credit rating agencies.

We continue to diversify our business by growing high-margin revenue streams that leverage our competitive advantages, including:

•Our continued focus on our premium products (including Delta One®, First Class, Delta Premium Select and Delta Comfort+®) and further segmentation of our product offerings.

•Our partnership with American Express, which provides us a co-brand revenue stream tied to broader consumer spending.

•Our Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul ("MRO") operation, where we are well-positioned for growth through contractual agreements with jet engine manufacturers, including both legacy and next-generation engine platforms, as well as through our airframe and other maintenance services.

•Our other complementary portfolio businesses, such as our cargo operations and Delta Vacations.

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Our premium yield growth has significantly outpaced main cabin as demand for premium products continues to grow. In 2025, we continued to expand our premium products and services, ensuring more customers can experience our most elevated products.

SkyMiles Program

Our SkyMiles program provides members with the ability to earn mileage credits ("miles") when traveling on Delta, Delta Connection and our partner airlines. Miles may also be earned by using certain services offered by program partners, such as credit card, retail, ridesharing, car rental and hotel companies. To facilitate transactions with participating companies, we sell miles to non-airline businesses and other airlines.

Miles may be used toward award redemptions such as flights and upgrades on Delta, our regional carriers and other participating airlines as well as donations to specific charities and more. In 2025, 12% of revenue miles flown on Delta were from award travel, as program members redeemed miles in the loyalty program for approximately 35 million award tickets. Our most significant and valuable contract to sell miles relates to our co-brand credit card relationship with American Express. In 2025, remuneration from American Express totaled $8.2 billion, which we expect to grow to $10 billion over the next few years.

Innovative Investments in Technology

Technology is a strategic differentiator for our business. We have and will continue to invest in technological improvements, including innovations to customer-facing applications and improvements to infrastructure and technology architecture to unify and improve access to data sources. We are building on our recent digital transformation to further enhance interactions with our customers, which allows our people to deliver more personalized service, further enhancing the customer experience, strengthening our brand, and driving revenue and efficiency.

We are also using technology to reinforce our operational performance and efficiency. In our operations, we are beginning to adopt artificial intelligence ("AI") models to help us route and distribute bags with short timeframes to make connections in our hubs and make gating decisions that are aimed at keeping flights on time. We are also using AI to optimize the frequency and timing of maintenance tasks to increase reliability. Over time, we also expect AI to play an even greater role in the way we manage and minimize operational disruptions.

For our customers, we are making investments in digital platforms on the ground and in the air. We continue to enhance the Delta app with new self-service capabilities while making it more seamless for customers to find what they need and engage by using natural language. In 2025, we launched the beta version of Delta Concierge, an AI-powered virtual assistant within the Delta app, which aims to deliver real-time travel support for our customers. On the ground, we are investing to create a smoother and less stressful travel experience. App-enabled bag drop and touchless ID expansion across our network are expediting customer movement through airport lobbies and security screening checkpoints. We are able to deliver more detailed notifications and recommended next steps for customers experiencing flight disruptions.

Onboard the aircraft, we continue to invest in our in-flight entertainment and are expanding fast and free Wi-Fi for all customers through a free SkyMiles account. In December 2025, we celebrated an important milestone with our 1,000th free Wi-Fi-enabled aircraft entering service. We also continue to innovate and enhance our digital customer platform on board our aircraft, which will enable the creation of more personalized experiences over the next several years.

Commercial Arrangements with Other Airlines

Joint Venture/Cooperation Agreements. We have implemented four separate joint venture or joint cooperation agreements with foreign carriers as described below. We have sought to reinforce these agreements through equity investments in those carriers. See Note 4 of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information about our equity investments.

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Each of our joint venture or cooperation arrangements provides for joint commercial cooperation with the relevant partner within the geographic scope of the arrangement, including the sharing of revenues and/or profits and losses generated by the parties on the joint venture routes, as well as joint marketing and sales, coordinated pricing and revenue management, network and schedule planning and other coordinated activities related to the parties' operations on such routes. Our implemented commercial joint ventures/cooperation agreements consist of the following:

•A combined joint venture agreement with Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic with respect to transatlantic traffic flows. In addition to the joint venture, we own a non-controlling 49% equity stake in Virgin Atlantic Limited, the parent company of Virgin Atlantic Airways, and a 3% ownership stake in the parent company of Air France and KLM.

•A joint cooperation agreement with Aeroméxico with respect to trans-border traffic flows between the U.S. and Mexico. In addition to the joint cooperation agreement, we currently own an approximately 19% equity stake in Grupo Aeroméxico, S.A.B. de C.V., the parent company of Aeroméxico.

•A joint venture agreement with LATAM with respect to traffic flows between North and South America, allowing our passengers to access more than 300 destinations between the United States/Canada and Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay. We currently own an approximately 11% equity stake in LATAM.

•A joint venture agreement with Korean Air with respect to traffic flows between the United States and certain countries in Asia. In addition to the joint venture, we own just under 15% of the outstanding common stock of Hanjin-KAL, the largest shareholder of Korean Air.

Each of our joint venture or joint cooperation agreements described above has been approved and granted antitrust immunity from the U.S. Department of Transportation ("DOT"). On September 15, 2025, the DOT issued a final order terminating the antitrust immunity for our joint cooperation agreement with Aeroméxico and directed us and Aeroméxico to wind down certain joint operations that were covered by the immunity by January 1, 2026. We and Aeroméxico subsequently filed a petition in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit for judicial review of the DOT final order. On November 12, 2025, the Court granted a stay of the final order pending the resolution of the case, the timing and outcome of which cannot be predicted at this time. In the meantime, we and Aeroméxico continue to operate under the joint cooperation agreement.

Other International Carriers. In addition to our joint venture and joint cooperation agreements that have been granted antitrust immunity from the DOT as described above, we maintain commercial relationships and marketing arrangements with other foreign carriers to enhance our global network. These arrangements may include reciprocal codesharing, loyalty program participation, airport lounge access, joint sales cooperation or promotions, shared airport facilities, office co-location and other activities.

Some of these relationships include minority equity investments. For example, we own a 2% equity interest in China Eastern, with whom we have a strategic joint marketing and commercial cooperation arrangement covering traffic flows between China and the U.S. In 2025, we acquired an approximately 13% minority equity stake in WestJet, with whom we have a strategic commercial cooperation agreement covering traffic flows between the U.S. and Canada.

SkyTeam. We are a member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance. The other members of SkyTeam are Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeroméxico, Air Europa (Spain), Air France, China Airlines, China Eastern, Garuda Indonesia, Kenya Airways, KLM, Korean Air, Middle East Airlines, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Saudia, TAROM (Romania), Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Xiamen Airlines (China). Through alliance arrangements with other SkyTeam carriers, we are able to link our route network with those of the other member airlines, providing opportunities to increase connecting traffic while offering enhanced customer service through reciprocal codesharing and loyalty program participation, airport lounge access and cargo operations.

Regional Carriers

We have air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to our network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic market. These arrangements enable us to better match capacity with demand in these markets.

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Through our regional carrier program, Delta Connection®, we have contractual arrangements with regional carriers to operate aircraft using our "DL" designator code. We currently have contractual arrangements with:

•Endeavor Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ours ("Endeavor");

•Republic Airways, Inc.; and

•SkyWest Airlines, Inc. ("SkyWest Airlines").

Our contractual agreements with regional carriers are primarily capacity purchase arrangements, under which we control the scheduling, pricing, reservations, ticketing and seat inventories for the regional carriers' flights operating under our "DL" designator code. We are entitled to all ticket, cargo, mail, in-flight and ancillary revenues associated with the flights under these capacity purchase arrangements. We pay those airlines an amount, as defined in the applicable agreement, which is based on a determination of their cost of operating those flights and other factors intended to approximate market rates for those services. These capacity purchase agreements are generally long-term in nature, with expiration varying for different tranches of aircraft. Certain of these agreements provide us the right to terminate the entire agreement, or in some cases remove some of the aircraft from the scope of the agreement, for convenience at certain future dates.

SkyWest Airlines operates some flights for us under a revenue proration agreement. This proration agreement establishes a fixed dollar or percentage division of revenues for tickets sold to passengers traveling on connecting flight itineraries.

Cargo

Through our global network, our cargo operations are able to connect the world’s major freight gateways. We generate cargo revenues in domestic and international markets through the use of cargo space on regularly scheduled passenger aircraft. We are a member of SkyTeam Cargo, an international airline cargo alliance with six other airlines that offers an extensive worldwide network, through which we provide global solutions to our customers by connecting our network with those partners.

Other Complementary Businesses

We have various other businesses arising from our airline operations, including the following:

•In addition to providing maintenance and engineering support for our fleet of mainline and regional aircraft, our MRO operation, known as Delta TechOps, provides engine, component, airframe and other maintenance services to aviation and airline customers from around the world. With agreements to service both legacy and multiple next-generation aircraft engines as well as components, Delta TechOps is positioned as a leading global service provider for state-of-the-art, more sustainable engines.

•Our vacation package subsidiary, Delta Vacations, provides elevated, all-in-one, customized and flexible vacation experiences designed for members of our SkyMiles program. Revenue allocated to Delta Vacations excludes flight revenue associated with vacation packages.

Environmental Sustainability

We are pursuing a long-term strategy to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions from our airline operations by 2050, with initiatives focused around three key themes: What We Fly, How We Fly, and the Fuel We Use. In 2025, we achieved several of our near-term decarbonization goals as we continued to prioritize innovative measures to reduce emissions and other environmental impacts across our business.

The global aviation industry is viewed as a "hard-to-abate" sector, meaning it is innately difficult to decarbonize. Achieving our long-term aspirations will require substantial expansion of the Sustainable Aviation Fuel ("SAF") market, the development, discovery and adoption of new technologies, engagement from both internal and external stakeholders, as well as partnerships across industries to increase production of alternative fuels and help drive down costs.

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What We Fly

Our sustainability strategy aims to introduce revolutionary aircraft into our fleet. In 2025, we announced partnerships with both JetZero and Maeve to accelerate the design and development of revolutionary aircraft. JetZero aims to build a blended wing-body aircraft expected to be up to 50% more fuel efficient than today's mid-market aircraft, while Maeve is building a regional, hybrid-electric solution aimed at reducing fuel consumption by up to 40%. Other revolutionary fleet partners include Joby, with their home-to-airport air taxi offering, as well as Airbus and Boeing, both of which are exploring next generation technology.

How We Fly

In 2025, we met and exceeded our near-term operational fuel efficiency target of 1% fuel burn savings, by delivering over 55 million gallons of jet fuel savings from operational improvements as compared to 2019 and relative to what we would have used if we had not undertaken any fuel efficiency efforts, not including fleet renewal. Cross-functional Delta teams collaborated to implement innovative strategies to reduce jet fuel consumption. This achievement of 55 million gallons of jet fuel savings is worth more than $125 million in annual cost savings to Delta.

The Fuel We Use

SAF is the most promising lever known today to reduce lifecycle carbon emissions from conventional jet fuel and decarbonize our operations. However, currently available SAF supply does not meet global airline demand for even one week. We continue to work across industries and with state and federal lawmakers to advocate for policy solutions to further incentivize SAF production and allow the SAF market to reach scale in the U.S.

Fuel

Our results of operations are significantly impacted by changes in the price and availability of aircraft fuel. We purchase most of our aircraft fuel under contracts that establish the price based on various market indices and therefore do not provide material protection against price increases or assure the availability of our fuel supplies. We also purchase aircraft fuel on the spot market, from offshore sources and under contracts that permit the refiners to set the price. We are currently able to obtain adequate supplies of aircraft fuel, including fuel produced by the Trainer refinery operated by our subsidiary Monroe Energy, LLC ("Monroe") and its pipeline subsidiary, or procured through the sale of gasoline, diesel and other refined petroleum products ("non-jet fuel products") the refinery produces, and crude oil for Monroe's operations.

The following table shows our aircraft fuel consumption and costs:

(1)Includes the operations of our regional carriers operating under capacity purchase agreements.

(2)Includes the impact of fuel hedge activity and refinery segment results.

Monroe Energy

Monroe and its pipeline subsidiary operate the Trainer refinery and related logistics assets located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The facilities include pipelines and terminal assets that allow the refinery to supply jet fuel to our airline operations throughout the northeastern U.S., including our New York City hubs at LaGuardia and JFK. These companies are distinct from our airline operation, operating under their own management teams and with their own boards. We own Monroe as part of our strategy to mitigate the cost of the refining margin reflected in the price of jet fuel, as well as to maintain sufficiency of supply to our New York operations.

Refinery Operations. The facility is capable of refining approximately 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day and sources domestic and foreign crude oil supply from a variety of providers.

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Environmental Sustainability. We are evaluating operational pathways for integrating Monroe into Delta's net zero future. Monroe’s sustainability ambitions include being one of the most energy efficient refineries in the country with the lowest energy intensity and GHG emissions on an absolute and per barrel basis. For example, Monroe continues the execution of its plan to replace steam-driven turbines that currently power pumps at the facility with more efficient and reliable electric motors, which will reduce the amount of steam required from the facility’s natural gas-fired boilers. The Monroe team also provides their expertise on refining, biofuels and the challenges of scaling SAF regularly to the Delta team.

Fuel Hedging Program

Substantially all of our derivative contracts to hedge the financial risk from changing fuel prices are related to Monroe’s inventory. We may utilize different contract and commodity types in this program and frequently test their economic effectiveness against our financial targets. We closely monitor the hedge portfolio and rebalance the portfolio based on market conditions, which may result in locking in gains or losses on hedge contracts prior to their settlement dates.

Employee Matters

Human Capital Management

We believe that the Delta people and culture are our strongest competitive advantage, and the high-quality service that our employees provide sets us apart from other airlines. As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 103,000 full-time employee equivalents, of which approximately 100,000 were based in the U.S.

Our principal human capital management objectives are to attract, retain and develop people who understand and are committed to delivering the "Delta Difference" that is core to our brand. To support these objectives, we have put in place programs that seek to:

•Reward our people through highly competitive total compensation designed to share Delta’s success with our employees who make it possible and promote teamwork and collaboration across the business.

•Achieve high performance by fostering our people’s holistic wellbeing including physical, emotional, social and financial wellbeing.

•Invest in employees’ professional development and support their community engagement efforts.

•Prepare our employees for key roles and future leadership positions through a variety of training and development programs.

•Enhance our culture through efforts aimed at making our workplace more engaging, equitable and inclusive for all employees.

The health and safety of our employees is foundational to achieving these objectives. Delta's Safety Management System is central to promoting a positive safety culture, proactively managing safety risk and making investments to ensure a safe experience for our employees and customers.

Our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion is aligned with our business strategy and company values. We believe that when we reflect and respect the world, we are able to better connect and serve our global customers. Our operational excellence, business growth, talent retention, increased innovation, world-class reliability and customer engagement, satisfaction and loyalty are the result of hiring the best, most qualified people.

With our people-first approach:

•We are dedicated to being an industry leader in closing the gap between employees’ needs and the material security they deserve. We champion fair living wages and economic opportunities that ensure secure, stable futures for our employees and their families.

•We are committed to hiring and promoting the most qualified talent and aspire for our senior leadership team to reflect the diversity of backgrounds and experiences of our more than 100,000 employees.

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•Our employee engagement through Business Resource Groups positively impacts employees’ sense of belonging and our ability to consistently tap into employee perspectives, informing our business and employee experience.

We also believe that listening, engaging and connecting with employees furthers our human capital management objectives. We do so primarily through our open-door policy, employee engagement groups and business resource groups, digital communication across all levels of the company, in-person events with senior management and company-wide and division-specific surveys to evaluate employee satisfaction.

We also conduct annual employee surveys to measure engagement and seek feedback on employee satisfaction, leadership effectiveness, our culture of safety, our wellbeing programs and our efforts to promote a diverse and inclusive workplace for all employees.

Collective Bargaining

As of December 31, 2025, approximately 20% of our full-time equivalent employees were represented by unions.

In addition to the domestic airline employee groups discussed above, approximately 200 refinery employees of Monroe are represented by the United Steel Workers under an agreement that expires on February 28, 2026. This agreement is governed by the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"), which generally allows either party to engage in self-help upon the expiration of the agreement. Certain of our employees outside the U.S. are represented by unions, work councils or other local representative groups.

Labor unions periodically engage in organizing efforts to represent various groups of our employees, including at our operating subsidiaries, that are not represented for collective bargaining purposes.

Competition

The airline industry is highly competitive, marked by significant competition with respect to routes, fares, schedules (both timing and frequency), operational reliability, services, products, customer service and loyalty programs. Over the last 20 years, the industry has evolved significantly both domestically and internationally. Consolidation, international alliances, immunized joint ventures and subsidized government-sponsored international carriers have shaped the competitive landscape in the industry, resulting in airlines and alliances with significant financial resources, extensive global networks and competitive cost structures. In addition to competition from other carriers, we compete to a lesser extent with surface transportation and technological alternatives such as virtual meetings, teleconferencing or videoconferencing.

Domestic

Our domestic operations are subject to significant competition from traditional network carriers, including American Airlines and United Airlines, national point-to-point carriers, including Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines, and other discount or ultra-low-cost carriers, including Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines. Some of these carriers have business models primarily focused on maintaining low costs, with the intention of providing service at lower fares to destinations served by Delta. In particular, we face significant competition at our domestic hubs and key airports either directly at those airports or at the hubs of other airlines that are located in close proximity. We also face competition in small- to medium-sized markets from regional jet operations of other carriers.

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International

Our international operations are subject to competition from both foreign and domestic carriers, including from point-to-point carriers on certain international routes. Through alliance and other marketing and codesharing agreements with foreign carriers, U.S. carriers have increased their ability to sell international transportation, such as services to and beyond traditional European, Asian and Latin American gateway cities. Similarly, foreign carriers have obtained increased access to interior U.S. passenger traffic beyond traditional U.S. gateway cities through these relationships.

In particular, several joint ventures among U.S. and foreign carriers, including several of our joint ventures as well as those of our competitors, have received grants of antitrust immunity allowing the participating carriers to coordinate networks, schedules, pricing, sales and inventory. In addition, alliances formed by domestic and foreign carriers, including SkyTeam, the Star Alliance (among United Airlines, Lufthansa German Airlines, Air Canada and others) and the oneworld alliance (among American Airlines, British Airways, Qantas and others) have enhanced competition in international markets.

Regulatory Matters

The DOT and the Federal Aviation Administration (the "FAA") exercise regulatory authority over air transportation in the U.S. The DOT has authority to issue certificates of public convenience and necessity required for airlines to provide air transportation. An air carrier that the DOT finds fit, willing and able to perform the proposed service is given authority to operate domestic and international air transportation (including the carriage of passengers and cargo), as applicable. Since the passage of the Airline Industry Deregulation Act in 1978, airlines have generally been free to launch or terminate service to U.S airports without restriction, except with respect to certain slot-controlled and schedule-facilitated airports, as well as certain constraints related to service to small communities governed by the "Essential Air Services" program.

The DOT has jurisdiction over certain economic and consumer protection matters, such as unfair or deceptive practices and methods of competition, advertising, denied boarding compensation, baggage liability and disabled passenger transportation. The DOT also has authority to review certain joint venture agreements between domestic and international carriers. The DOT engages in regulation of economic matters such as transactions involving allocation of "slots" or similar regulatory mechanisms which limit the rights of carriers to conduct operations at airports where such mechanisms are in place. The FAA has primary responsibility for matters relating to the safety of air carrier flight operations, including airline operating certificates, control of navigable air space, flight personnel, aircraft certification and maintenance and other matters affecting air safety.

Authority to operate international routes and international codesharing arrangements is regulated by the DOT and by the governments of the foreign countries involved. International certificate authorities are also subject to the approval of the U.S. President for conformity with national defense and foreign policy objectives.

The Transportation Security Administration ("TSA") and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, each a division of the Department of Homeland Security, are responsible for certain civil aviation security matters, including passenger and baggage screening at U.S. airports and international passenger prescreening prior to entry into or departure from the U.S.

Airlines are also subject to various other federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice has jurisdiction over some airline competition matters. The U.S. Postal Service has authority over certain aspects of the transportation of mail. Labor relations in the airline industry, as discussed below, are generally governed by the Railway Labor Act with oversight by the National Mediation Board ("NMB"). Environmental matters are regulated by various federal, state, local and foreign governmental entities. Privacy of passenger and employee data is regulated by domestic and foreign laws and regulations. In addition, certain foreign jurisdictions have enacted passenger protection rules and regulations, including requirements to compensate passengers in certain cases, that meet or exceed U.S. requirements.

Fares and Rates

Airlines set ticket prices in all domestic and most international city-pairs with minimal governmental regulation, and the industry is characterized by significant price competition. Certain international fares and rates are subject to the jurisdiction of the DOT and the governments of the foreign countries involved. Many of our tickets are sold by travel agents, and fares are subject to commissions, overrides and discounts paid to travel agents, brokers and wholesalers.

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Route Authority

Our flight operations are authorized by certificates of public convenience and necessity and also by exemptions and limited-entry frequency awards issued by the DOT. The requisite approvals of other governments for international operations are controlled by bilateral agreements (and a multilateral agreement in the case of the U.S. and the European Union ("EU")) with, or permits or approvals issued by, foreign countries. Because international air transportation is governed by bilateral or other agreements between the U.S. and the foreign country or countries involved, changes in U.S. or foreign government aviation policies could result in the alteration or termination of such agreements, diminish the value of our international route authorities or otherwise affect our international operations. Bilateral agreements between the U.S. and various foreign countries that we serve are subject to renegotiation from time to time. The U.S. government has negotiated "Open Skies" agreements with many countries, which allow unrestricted access between the U.S. and these foreign markets.

Certain of our international route authorities are subject to periodic renewal requirements. We request extension of these authorities when and as appropriate. While the DOT usually renews temporary authorities on routes where the authorized carrier is providing a reasonable level of service, there is no assurance this practice will continue in general or with respect to a specific renewal. Dormant route authorities may not be renewed in some cases, especially where another U.S. carrier indicates a willingness to provide service.

Airport Access

Operations at three major domestic airports and certain foreign airports that we serve are regulated by governmental entities through allocations of "slots" or similar regulatory mechanisms. Each slot represents the authorization to land at or take off from the particular airport during a specified time period.

In the U.S., the FAA currently regulates the allocation of slots, slot exemptions, operating authorizations or similar capacity allocation mechanisms at Reagan National in Washington, D.C. and LaGuardia and JFK in the New York City area. Our operations at these airports generally require the allocation of slots or analogous regulatory authorizations. Similarly, our operations at many international airports are regulated by local slot coordinators pursuant to the International Air Transport Association's Worldwide Scheduling Guidelines and applicable local law. We currently have sufficient slots or analogous authorizations to operate our existing flights, and we have generally been able to obtain the rights to expand our operations and to change our schedules. There is no assurance, however, that we will be able to do so in the future because, among other reasons, such allocations are subject to changes in governmental policies.

Airline Labor Regulation

In the U.S., airlines and labor unions are governed by the Railway Labor Act. Under the Railway Labor Act, a labor union seeking to represent an unrepresented craft or class of employees is required to file with the NMB an application alleging a representation dispute, along with authorization cards signed by at least 50% of the employees in that craft or class. The NMB then investigates the dispute and, if it finds the labor union has obtained a sufficient number of authorization cards, conducts an election to determine whether to certify the labor union as the collective bargaining representative of that craft or class. A labor union will be certified as the representative of the employees in a craft or class if more than 50% of votes cast are for representation. A certified labor union would then commence negotiations toward a collective bargaining agreement with the employer.

Under the Railway Labor Act, a collective bargaining agreement between an airline and a labor union does not expire but instead becomes amendable as of a stated date. Either party may request that the NMB appoint a federal mediator to participate in the negotiations for a new or amended agreement. If no agreement is reached in mediation, the NMB may determine, at any time, that an impasse exists and offer binding arbitration. If either party rejects binding arbitration, a 30-day "cooling off" period begins. At the end of this 30-day period, the parties may engage in "self-help," unless the U.S. President appoints a Presidential Emergency Board ("PEB") to investigate and report on the dispute. The appointment of a PEB maintains the "status quo" for an additional 60 days. If the parties do not reach agreement during this period, the parties may then engage in self-help. Self-help includes, among other things, a strike by the union or the imposition of proposed changes to the collective bargaining agreement by the airline. The U.S. Congress and the President have the authority to prevent self-help by enacting legislation that, among other things, imposes a settlement on the parties.

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Environmental Regulation

Environmental Compliance Obligations. Our operations are subject to numerous international, federal, state and local laws and regulations governing protection of the environment, including regulation of greenhouse gases and other air emissions, water discharges, aircraft drinking water, storage and use of petroleum products and other regulated substances, and the management and disposal of hazardous waste, substances and materials. Our aircraft are also subject to federal and international noise regulations.

We are also subject to certain environmental laws and contractual obligations governing the management and release of regulated substances, which may require investigation and remediation at affected sites. To address soil and/or ground water impacts resulting from our operations, we have a program in place to investigate and, if appropriate, remediate those impacts. Although the ultimate outcome of these matters cannot be predicted with certainty, we believe that the resolution of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") finalized regulations defining certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS") as "hazardous substances" under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), and the EPA also finalized standards regulating certain PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act. PFAS are man-made chemicals that have been used in a wide variety of consumer and industrial products, including the firefighting foams used to extinguish fuel-based fires at airports and refineries. Numerous states have also adopted regulations governing PFAS. The EPA’s final rule under CERCLA, and analogous state laws, could subject airports, airlines, and refineries, among others, to potential liability for cleanup of historical PFAS contamination associated with use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam. In addition, some states have adopted legislation prohibiting the manufacture, sale, distribution and/or use of firefighting foam containing intentionally added PFAS, which may require the transition to alternative fire suppression systems. Delta has developed and is implementing plans to transition the fire suppression systems in affected aircraft maintenance hangars to systems that do not contain intentionally added PFAS. The ultimate impact and associated cost to Delta of these legislative and regulatory developments related to PFAS, including firefighting foam, cannot be predicted at this time.

Regulation of GHG Emissions. Aviation industry GHG emissions, particularly carbon emissions, and their impact on climate change remain a focus in the international community. In 2016, the International Civil Aviation Organization ("ICAO") formally adopted a global, market-based emissions offset program known as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation ("CORSIA"). This program established a goal for the aviation industry to achieve carbon-neutral growth in international aviation beginning in 2021. Any growth above the baseline would need to be addressed using eligible carbon offsets and/or lower carbon fuel. ICAO set the baseline for establishing airlines’ obligations under CORSIA for 2021 to 2023 based on 2019 travel, and in 2022 set a new, more stringent CORSIA baseline of 85% of 2019, which will apply from 2024 through 2035. The pilot phase of the CORSIA program ran from 2021 through 2023, followed by a first phase that began in 2024 and a second phase beginning in 2027.

The U.S. government has not yet enacted legislation to mandate that U.S. operators participate in CORSIA. Nonetheless, we have voluntarily submitted verified emissions reports on our annual international emissions. While airlines had no offsetting obligations during the pilot phase of CORSIA as a result of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international travel, international airline emissions will likely exceed the new baseline during the first phase (2024 – 2026), triggering CORSIA's offsetting requirements. CORSIA is expected to increase operating costs for airlines subject to the program that operate internationally. Because CORSIA has not yet been implemented in the United States and could potentially be affected by political developments in participating countries or the results of the initial phases of the program, the impact of CORSIA cannot be predicted at this time.

Additionally, the EU requires its member states to implement regulations to include aviation in its Emissions Trading Scheme ("ETS"). Under these regulations, any airline with flights originating from or landing in the European Economic Area ("EEA") is subject to the ETS and, beginning in 2012, was required to purchase emissions allowances if the airline exceeds the number of free allowances allocated to it under the ETS. The initial scope of the ETS, however, was narrowed so that it would apply only to flights within the EEA through 2023 to align with the pilot phase of CORSIA. In 2023, the EU adopted new legislation extending this narrow scope of the EU ETS until 2027. It also requires a review of CORSIA’s effectiveness in 2026, which could potentially lead to expansion of the EU ETS to include all flights departing the EU and EEA. The United Kingdom ("UK") also has an ETS program that includes aviation. The UK ETS currently applies to UK domestic flights and flights from the UK to EEA countries.

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In 2017, ICAO also adopted aircraft certification standards to reduce carbon dioxide ("CO2") emissions from new aircraft. The new aircraft certification standards applied to new fleet types in 2020 and will apply to in-production aircraft no later than 2028. These standards will not apply to existing in-service aircraft. In 2021, the EPA finalized GHG emission standards for new aircraft engines designed to implement the ICAO standards on the same timeframe contemplated by ICAO, and these standards were upheld in response to legal challenges. Like the ICAO standards, the final EPA standards do not apply to engines on in-service aircraft.

The airline industry may face additional regulation of aircraft emissions in the U.S. and abroad and could become subject to further taxes, charges or additional requirements to obtain permits or purchase allowances or emission credits for GHG emissions in various jurisdictions. For example, in 2023, the EU adopted legislation that established a SAF mandate on fuel supplied at EU airports. Beginning in 2025, the mandate required 2% of the jet fuel supplied in the EU to be SAF, and the percentage increases incrementally over time to 70% in 2050. This mandate has increased SAF prices in the EU for the airline industry. In 2024, the UK also adopted SAF mandate legislation, and other countries are also considering mandates.

Additional regulation could result in taxation, regulatory or permitting requirements from multiple jurisdictions for the same operations and significant costs to the airline industry, including Delta. In addition to direct costs, such regulation could result in increased fuel costs passed through from fuel suppliers affected by any such regulations. Certain airports have also adopted, and others could in the future adopt, GHG emission or climate-related goals and requirements that could impact our operations or require us to make changes or investments in our infrastructure. We are monitoring and evaluating the potential impact of such developments.

Noise. The Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 recognizes the rights of operators of U.S. airports with noise problems to implement local noise abatement programs so long as such programs do not interfere unreasonably with interstate or foreign commerce or the national air transportation system. This statute generally provides that local noise restrictions on Stage 3 aircraft first effective after October 1, 1990 require FAA approval. While we have had sufficient scheduling flexibility to accommodate local noise restrictions in the past, our operations could be adversely impacted if locally imposed regulations become more restrictive or widespread. In addition, foreign governments may enact or allow airports to enact similar restrictions, which could adversely impact our international operations or require significant expenditures in order for our aircraft to comply with the restrictions. For example, in 2022, the Netherlands announced a multi-phase plan to reduce noise by reducing the maximum number of flights authorized annually at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. In 2023, airlines and airline associations, including Delta and KLM, challenged the initial phase of the plan. The U.S., the European Commission and other governments also raised legal concerns about the plan with the Dutch government. In November 2023, the Netherlands suspended the initial phase of the plan, and in 2024, the Netherlands Supreme Court found that the Dutch government’s flight reduction plan was unlawful. The Dutch government has issued a revised plan, which is the subject of renewed litigation brought by airlines, including Delta and KLM, and by groups representing residents around Schiphol Airport. This litigation questions the lawfulness of the renewed plan. The outcome of this litigation cannot be determined at this time.

Refinery Matters. Monroe's operation of the Trainer refinery is subject to numerous environmental laws and extensive regulations, including those relating to the discharge of materials into the environment, waste management, pollution prevention measures and greenhouse gas and other air emissions.

Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as expanded by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the Renewable Fuel Standard ("RFS") was created, setting up specific targets of renewable fuel to be used in the U.S. economy by mandating the blending of renewable fuels into gasoline and on-road diesel ("Transportation Fuels"). Renewable Identification Numbers ("RINs") are assigned to renewable fuels produced by or imported into the U.S. that are blended into Transportation Fuels to demonstrate compliance with this obligation. A refinery may meet its obligation under RFS by blending the necessary volumes of renewable fuels with Transportation Fuels, by purchasing RINs in the open market, or through a combination of blending and purchasing RINs. Because Monroe is able to blend only a small amount of renewable fuels, it must purchase the majority of its RINs requirement in the secondary market. Market prices for RINs have been volatile and marked by periods of sharp increases and decreases.

Civil Reserve Air Fleet Program

We participate in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program (the "CRAF Program"), which permits the U.S. military to use the aircraft and crew resources of participating U.S. airlines during airlift emergencies, national emergencies or times of war. We have agreed to make available under the CRAF Program a portion of our international aircraft during the contract period that ends on October 31, 2030, with the opportunity to opt in or out of the program every two years. The CRAF Program has only been activated three times since it was created in 1951, most recently in 2021 to support the military’s effort to evacuate people from Afghanistan following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country.

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Information About Our Executive Officers as of December 31, 2025

Edward H. Bastian, Age 68: Chief Executive Officer of Delta since May 2016; President of Delta (September 2007 - May 2016); President of Delta and Chief Executive Officer Northwest Airlines, Inc. (October 2008 - December 2009); President and Chief Financial Officer of Delta (September 2007 - October 2008); Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Delta (July 2005 - September 2007); Chief Financial Officer of Acuity Brands (June 2005 - July 2005); Senior Vice President - Finance and Controller of Delta (2000 - April 2005); Vice President and Controller of Delta (1998 - 2000).

Glen W. Hauenstein, Age 65: President of Delta since May 2016; Executive Vice President - Chief Revenue Officer of Delta (August 2013 - May 2016); Executive Vice President - Network Planning and Revenue Management of Delta (April 2006 - July 2013); Executive Vice President and Chief of Network and Revenue Management of Delta (August 2005 - April 2006); Vice General Director - Chief Commercial Officer and Chief Operating Officer of Alitalia (2003 - 2005); Senior Vice President- Network of Continental Airlines (2003); Senior Vice President - Scheduling of Continental Airlines (2001 - 2003); Vice President Scheduling of Continental Airlines (1998 - 2001). As previously announced, Mr. Hauenstein will retire from Delta effective February 28, 2026.

Allison C. Ausband, Age 63: Executive Vice President - Chief People Officer of Delta since January 2025; Executive Vice President - Chief Customer Experience Officer of Delta (June 2021 - December 2024); Senior Vice President - In-Flight Service of Delta (September 2014 - May 2021); Vice President - Reservation Sales and Customer Care of Delta (January 2010 - September 2014).

Alain Bellemare, Age 64: President - International of Delta since January 2021; Chief Executive Officer of Bombardier (February 2015 - March 2020); President and Chief Executive Officer of United Technologies Corporation Propulsion & Aerospace Systems (June 2011 - February 2015).

Peter W. Carter, Age 62: Executive Vice President - Chief External Affairs Officer of Delta since October 2022; Executive Vice President - Chief Legal Officer of Delta (July 2015 - October 2022); Partner of Dorsey & Whitney LLP (1999 - 2015), including co-chair of Securities Litigation and Enforcement practice group, chair of Policy Committee and chair of trial department.

Daniel C. Janki, Age 57: Executive Vice President - Chief Financial Officer of Delta since July 2021; Senior Vice President of General Electric Company (GE) and Chief Executive Officer of GE Power Portfolio (October 2020 - June 2021); Senior Vice President, Business and Portfolio Transformation of GE (2018 - 2020); Senior Vice President, Treasurer and Global Business Operations of GE (2014 - 2017); Senior Vice President, CEO of GE Energy Management (2012 - 2013).

John E. Laughter, Age 55: President - Delta TechOps and Chief of Operations since October 2023; Executive Vice President - Chief of Operations of Delta (June 2021 - October 2023); Senior Vice President and Chief of Operations of Delta (October 2020 - June 2021); Senior Vice President - Flight Operations of Delta (March 2020 - October 2020); Senior Vice President - Corporate Safety, Security and Compliance of Delta (August 2013 - March 2020); Senior Vice President - Maintenance Operations of Delta (March 2008 - July 2013); Vice President - Maintenance of Delta (December 2005 - March 2008).

Rahul Samant, Age 59: Executive Vice President - Chief Information Officer of Delta since January 2018; Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Delta (February 2016 - December 2017); Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of American International Group, Inc. (January 2015 - February 2016); Senior Vice President and Global Head, Application Development and Management of American International Group, Inc. (September 2012 - December 2014); Managing Director of Bank of America (1999 - September 2012). As previously announced, Mr. Samant will retire from Delta effective March 1, 2026.

Steven M. Sear, Age 60: Executive Vice President - Global Sales of Delta since February 2016; Senior Vice President - Global Sales of Delta (December 2011 - February 2016); Vice President - Global Sales of Delta (October 2008 - December 2011); Vice President - Sales & Customer Care of Northwest Airlines, Inc. (June 2005 - October 2008).

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Erik S. Snell, Age 49: Executive Vice President - Chief Customer Experience Officer of Delta since January 2025; Senior Vice President - Airport Customer Service, Cargo Operations, Ground Support Equipment and Global Clean (June 2022 - December 2024); Senior Vice President - Operations & Customer Center, Operations Analytics, and Delta Connection (October 2020 - June 2022); Senior Vice President - Corporate Planning (March 2020 - October 2020); Senior Vice President - Operations & Customer Center (September 2018 - March 2020); Vice President - Operations & Customer Center (March 2017 - August 2018); Vice President - Delta Connection (November 2015 - March 2017); Chief Executive Officer of Delta Global Services and Delta Private Jets (March 2015 - November 2015).

Additional Information

Our company website is located at www.delta.com and our investor relations website is located at ir.delta.com. We make available free of charge on our investor relations website our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after these reports are filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Information on our website, including our investor relations website, is not incorporated into this Form 10-K or our other securities filings and is not a part of those filings.