Sailing,
I thought of this after my earlier post, but I was out snowmobiling and didn't have access to a computer or Internet.
IIRC the pilots who took the early retirement got some significant medical benefits. I don't remember what it was, but I do recall it was a good deal, and was reason alone to take the incentive.
Some guys did get a huge windfall. I'll explain, but first a little background for those who came along after we lost our DB plan.
A full retirement from Delta was equal to 60% Final Average Earnings. To get a "full" retirement the pilot had to retire at 60 years of age and have a minimum of 25 years of Delta service.
As Sailing pointed out, the 505 who took the early retirement incentive were pretty senior dudes. I don't know the demographics of the 505, but I do know that not all were originally hired by Delta. Within the 505 there were a fair number who were former Western Air Lines pilots and former Pan Am pilots.
In the case of Western I believe that merger happened in 1986. Delta acquired Pan Am in 1991. An acquired pilot would typically retire at 60, but they wouldn't have the 25 years so their retirement was calculated as a percentage. For example a Pan Am pilot retiring in 1996 would have 5 years of longevity. His retirement would be 5/25 of 60% FAE.
Similarly a Western pilot would have 10/25 of 60% FAE.
So in the case of a former Pan Am pilot who took the "early retirement", he had five years added on to his longevity. Instead of 5/25 of 60% FAE, he got 10/25 of 60% FAE. That's literally twice the retirement he would have received without the early retirement incentive.
I call that a "huge benefit", and I would think the vast majority of pilots would as well.