“I’m terrible,” Bastian admitted during an offstage interview last week at the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “I’m one of the last people to get on board the flight, and our team’s always rushing to make sure that I’m there because planes will not wait for me.”

Bastian, 68, has spent nearly a decade at the helm of America’s most profitable airline, steering the Fortune 500 giant through crises from 9/11 and bankruptcy to the COVID-19 pandemic. After joining Delta in 1998, Bastian rose through six leadership roles before becoming CEO in 2016, but did not observe all of the advice he received for how to be the top boss. 

“The worst advice I ever received was [from] a former mentor who told me when I became CEO, I needed to create a unique identity, something that people couldn’t find me,” Bastian said. “He told me I’ll never have a moment of peace because I was too public.” 

Bastian listened, but chose not to follow the recommendation: “I thanked him for that, and I did not do that.”

Now, Bastian says his inbox is flooded with thousands of emails per day, and he often spends flights reading through customer feedback. He likens himself to a “point guard” directing traffic to resolve issues.

“I only have one email, only have one phone, and as a result of that, I’m always in touch with our people, our customers, our community,” he said. However, customers often don’t believe they’re actually communicating with the real Bastian himself. 

“They’ll think I’m some kind of fancy bot, and they’ll respond, ‘Wow, you’ve got a great agentic device there,’” he joked. “I say, ‘No, it’s me. I’m bored on a Saturday afternoon, just clearing out my inbox.’”

Even in person, Delta passengers are often surprised to see the chief executive seated in economy, eagerly awaiting Biscoff cookies and a Coke Zero from the snack cart.

“Many times when I travel, I’m sitting in coach,” Bastian said. “It’s always interesting because customers come back and say, ‘Why are you back here?’ And I say, ‘That’s about what my ticket could afford,’ and [I’m] usually next to the restroom.” To be sure, Bastian’s current compensation package is about $27 million, but airline executives do sometimes have to travel coach when premium seats are sold out. 

Delta’s people-first strategy

Fresh off a strong third-quarter earnings release with $15.2 billion in record September revenue, Bastian told Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell on stage Delta’s success hinges not on planes or technology, but on its people.

“In our business, everyone focuses on the airline, the aircraft, the technology, the airports, the amazing destinations we get to,” he said. “But it’s the staff that bring it to life.”.

After announcing the Atlanta-based carrier’s first-ever direct flights between the U.S. and Riyadh alongside Riyadh Air CEO Tony Douglas, Bastian added he “obsesses” over his 100,000 employees “so that they can then go do the amazing work that our customers deserve.” 

“If your people don’t feel that love and respect and care, they’re never going to be able to give you the service that you expect,” Bastian said.

The strategy has paid off: Delta ranks No. 15 on the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, and No. 70 on this year’s Fortune 500 list as the most profitable U.S. airline, ahead of peers like American, United, and Southwest. 

But Bastian’s people-first approach extends beyond philosophy. Long before he became CEO, the former chief financial officer helped design one of corporate America’s most generous profit-sharing programs in 2007. After emerging from a 19-month bankruptcy, Delta pledged to distribute billions of dollars in bonuses back to its workforce for every year that it hit its targets. In 2024, the employee share totaled $1.4 billion, amounting to around 10% of base pay.

“Rewarding our people is fundamental to who we are at Delta,” Bastian wrote in a February statement announcing the payouts. “It’s always my No. 1 priority to take care of the Delta team.”

Stuart Isett for Fortune

Delta CEO’s leadership advice 

Offstage at the Fortune Global Forum, Bastian, the longest-serving chief executive among major U.S. airlines, also reflected on his career journey and offered advice for the next generation of leaders: “Leadership is not a popularity contest.” 

“We all want to be liked, we all want to be loved,” he said. “But leadership involves also making hard choices, hard decisions with a lot of respect and confidence.”

Earlier this year, Bastian confirmed to Fortune’s Shawn Tully that Delta’s board has named an internal candidate as his successor, marking the first time he publicly disclosed this contingency plan, but emphasized he still has “a number of years to go,” adding, “This is not a swan song.” 

But of all the business advice he’s received over the years, Bastian says his most impactful wisdom came from his late mother: “She told us, growing up, you’ve got two ears and one mouth, use them accordingly.”

He explained that in business, leaders often focus on sending messages rather than listening: “We don’t take enough time to learn, to listen, to be able to make sure we understand each other.”

For Bastian, it’s a vital skill to form better relationships and fuel personal and professional growth. 

“You learn a lot more,” he said. “That curiosity really is one of the hallmarks, I believe, of my career.”