Dipping its wings into the pool of wage hikes, Delta Air Lines has announced a pay increase for its nonunion employees amid a fresh effort by a union to organize its flight attendants. Delta's top brass confirmed a pay raise of 5% for flight attendants and ground workers, alongside an upping of the minimum wage to $19 per hour for its U.S. workforce. They're also earmarking funds for performance-based pay bumps.

The Atlanta-based carrier, which sits comfortably atop the list of profitable U.S. airlines, said these increases would benefit over 80,000 employees. “With this increase in base pay and starting rates, we continue our commitment to provide Delta people with industry-leading total compensation for industry-leading performance,” CEO Ed Bastian explained in a staff memo, a decision shaped by Delta's lucrative $4.6 billion earnings last year, as reported by WABE.

The move comes as the Association of Flight Attendants amplifies its campaign to rally Delta attendants, setting its sights on accumulating authorization cards by year's end to call for an election. Delta's workforce, about a fifth of which is unionized, has seen flight attendants reject unionization in 2010 narrowly, and other drives have crashed and burned in 2002 and 2008. Delta pilots, however, do have representation under the Air Line Pilots Association.

Union president Sara Nelson has been vocal about her stance, arguing that Delta's industry dominance on the profit front should translate to better compensation for its workers. "Delta has become the leader in generating profits, and that means Delta flight attendants should be leading on pay and benefits and they are not," Nelson stated to WABE. This comes on the heels of a significant victory for the United Auto Workers at a Tennessee Volkswagen plant, spotlighting union traction even in traditionally nonunion strongholds like the South.