They start at a lower amount and then increase it until they have the required people. The lower and upper bound on what they can offer first appeared in a leak

They start at a lower amount and then increase it until they have the required people. The lower and upper bound on what they can offer first appeared in a leaked 2017 memo. 2017 also happens to be the year of the violent removal of someone on a United flight: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_Express_passenger_removal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_United_Express_passenger_... My guess would be that Delta put this policy into place after the terrible United incident.