Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines announced it will pay a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share to stock owners, its first such payment since it suspended dividends at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Airlines that received federal relief funding from the CARES Act were prohibited until Sept. 30, 2022 from paying dividends or buying back stock to benefit shareholders.
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines last December said it would resume its dividend.
Delta’s dividend will be paid Aug. 7 to shareholders on record as of July 17. The airline said the resumption of its dividend “reflects Delta’s progress on its three-year financial plan, including over $10 billion of debt repayment over the last two years.”
During a presentation on Delta’s outlook last December, an analyst asked CEO Ed Bastian about the possibility of restarting dividends or stock buybacks.
Bastian said at that time that he did not plan to consider share buybacks “until we get back to that investment grade-like debt structure. And even then, it will be a question as to whether that’s good enough to start a share repurchase.”
But a dividend, he said, is “a little different. It’s smaller. It’s a little more manageable.” He did not commit to resuming dividends back then — but added that the topic came up at every board meeting.
