Equity and Equity Compensation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

EQUITY AND EQUITY COMPENSATION

Equity

We are authorized to issue 2.0 billion shares of capital stock, of which up to 1.5 billion may be shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and up to 500 million may be shares of preferred stock.

Preferred Stock. We may issue preferred stock in one or more series. The Board of Directors is authorized (1) to fix the descriptions, powers (including voting powers), preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations and restrictions with respect to any series of preferred stock and (2) to specify the number of shares of any series of preferred stock. We have not issued any preferred stock.

Treasury Stock. We generally withhold shares of Delta common stock to cover employees' portion of required tax withholdings when employee equity awards are issued or vest. These shares are valued at cost, which equals the market price of the common stock on the date of issuance or vesting. The weighted average cost per share held in treasury was $28.87 and $28.23 as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Warrants. See Note 6, "Debt," for further discussion of the warrants issued during 2020 and 2021 in connection with the CARES Act payroll support program and extensions to acquire more than 11.1 million shares of Delta common stock.

Equity Compensation

Our broad-based equity and cash compensation plan provides for grants of restricted stock, stock options, performance awards, including cash incentive awards and other equity-based awards (the "Plan"). Shares of common stock issued under the Plan may be made available from authorized, but unissued, common stock or common stock we acquire. If any shares of our common stock are covered by an award that expires, is canceled, forfeited or otherwise terminates without delivery of shares (including shares surrendered or withheld for payment of taxes related to an award), such shares will again be available for issuance under the Plan except for (1) any shares tendered in payment of an option, (2) shares withheld to satisfy any tax withholding obligation with respect to the exercise of an option or stock appreciation right ("SAR") or (3) shares covered by a stock-settled SAR or other awards that were not issued upon the settlement of the award. The Plan authorizes the issuance of up to 163 million shares of common stock. As of December 31, 2021, there were 19 million shares available for future grants.

We make long-term incentive awards annually to eligible employees under the Plan. Generally, awards vest over time, subject to the employee's continued employment. Equity compensation expense, including awards payable in common stock or cash, is recognized in salaries and related costs over the employee's requisite service period (generally, the vesting period of the award) and totaled $149 million, $119 million and $161 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively. We record expense on a straight-line basis for awards with installment vesting. As of December 31, 2021, unrecognized costs related to unvested shares and stock options totaled $77 million. We expect substantially all unvested awards to vest and recognize forfeitures as they occur.

Restricted Stock. Restricted stock is common stock that may not be sold or otherwise transferred for a period of time and is subject to forfeiture in certain circumstances. The fair value of restricted stock awards is based on the closing price of the common stock on the grant date. As of December 31, 2021, there were 2.9 million unvested restricted stock awards. Restricted stock activity under the plan for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 is as follows:


Restricted Stock Award Activity
	2021			2020			2019
	Restricted Stock Awards	Weighted-Average Grant Price		Restricted Stock Awards	Weighted-Average Grant Price		Restricted Stock Awards	Weighted-Average Grant Price
(in millions, except wtd avg grant price)
Outstanding at January 1	2.2	$	54.06	2.6	$	51.28	2.4	$	49.24
Granted	2.3	39.93		1.4	56.84		1.8	51.75
Vested	(1.4)	51.15		(1.6)	51.95		(1.5)	48.65
Forfeited	(0.2)	44.01		(0.2)	56.11		(0.1)	50.78
Outstanding at December 31	2.9	$	45.66	2.2	$	54.06	2.6	$	51.28

Stock Options. Stock options are granted with an exercise price equal to the closing price of Delta common stock on the grant date and generally have a 10-year term. We determine the fair value of stock options at the grant date using an option pricing model. As of December 31, 2021, there were 6.2 million outstanding stock option awards with a weighted average exercise price of $50.41 of which 3.3 million were exercisable. Stock option activity under the plan for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 is as follows:


Stock Option Activity
	2021			2020			2019
	Stock Options	Weighted-Average Exercise Price		Stock Options	Weighted-Average Exercise Price		Stock Options	Weighted-Average Exercise Price
(in millions, except wtd avg grant price)
Outstanding at January 1	5.4	$	52.37	3.9	$	49.57	2.5	$	48.99
Granted	1.0	39.78		1.6	58.89		1.4	50.52
Exercised	—	—		(0.1)	44.05		—	—
Forfeited	(0.2)	49.61		—	—		—	—
Outstanding at December 31	6.2	$	50.41	5.4	$	52.37	3.9	$	49.57

Performance Awards. Performance awards are dollar-denominated long-term incentive opportunities which, for grants prior to 2021, are payable in Delta stock to executive officers on the payment date and in cash to all other participants. Beginning with the 2021 grants, performance awards are payable in cash to all participants. Potential performance award payments range from 0%-200% of a target level and are contingent upon our achieving certain financial and operational goals over a three-year performance period. Based on the closing stock price at each respective year end and contingent on achieving the specified performance conditions, the maximum shares that could be issued were 1.5 million, 2.2 million and 1.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively.