Short Story, Delta was in deep trouble. We had a BOD and CEO that did not want to file chapter 11 because they were awash in millions of stock options that would become worthless. We waited far to long and were dangerously low on cash. We were negotiating against both the company and the creditors. We had some pretty savvy union leadership that knew more cuts were coming one way or another. Since they felt the cuts were going to happen they pivoted to a demand for a cash note, equity in the company and a share in future profits. Airlines never made more than a 5 or 6% margin even in the good times so the PS didn't look to bad to the company and creditors. As the chapter 11 evolved we also got caught up in a hostile takeover attempt where the aquiring company upfront promised at a minimum to furlough 25% of our pilots and park the entire mad dog fleet. Times were not good!
Many on forums then said the equity and PS were and in the future would be worthless. The note was paid at 650 million. The equity was cashed out at 2.1 billion and Delta went from the worst airline around to the top of the industry, leading to unheard of profit sharing payments. Management can't stand the current PS program but it's a third rail they are afraid to touch! It's their Frankenstein and they own the monster.