<PAGE>   1
                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.1


                              DELTA AIR LINES, INC.
                      DIRECTORS' DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN

                      [As Amended Through January 24, 2001]

SECTION 1.  Purpose.

The purpose of the Delta Air Lines, Inc. Directors' Deferred Compensation Plan
(the "Plan") is to provide members of the Board of Directors (the "Board") of
Delta Air Lines, Inc. (the "Company") who are not employees of the Company
("Participants") with the opportunity to defer receipt of payment of their cash
payable fees for services as a Director.

SECTION 2.  Administration.

The Plan shall be administered by the Corporate Governance Committee of the
Board (the "Committee"), or such other committee of three or more individuals
appointed by the Board to administer the Plan. The members of the Committee must
be members of, and shall serve at the discretion of, the Board.

Subject to the provisions of the Plan, the Committee shall have sole and
complete authority to construe and interpret the Plan; to establish, amend and
rescind appropriate rules and regulations relating to the Plan; to administer
the Plan; and to take all such steps and make all such determinations in
connection with the Plan as it may deem necessary or advisable to carry out the
provisions and intent of the Plan. All determinations of the Committee shall be
by a majority of its members, and its determinations shall be final and
conclusive for all purposes and upon all persons, including, but without
limitation, the Company, the Committee, the Participants and their respective
successors in interest.

SECTION 3.  Eligibility and Participation.

Participation in the Plan shall be limited to members of the Board who are not
employees of the Company.

A Participant may elect to defer receipt of all or a portion of his or her cash
payable fees for services as a member of the Board. These fees include, without
limitation, the cash portion of the annual retainer, the committee chairperson
retainer and any meeting fees for attendance at meetings of the Board and its
committees (collectively, the "Fees").

SECTION 4.  Deferral Election.

A Director of the Company who desires to defer receipt of payment of all or a
portion of his or her Fees must complete and deliver an Election Agreement,
substantially in the form attached hereto as Attachment A, to the Corporate
Secretary of the Company no later than December 31 prior to the calendar year in
which the Fees otherwise would be paid; provided, however, that any Director
hereafter elected to the Board who was not a Director on the preceding December
31


<PAGE>   2

may make an election to defer payment of Fees not yet received for the calendar
year in which he or she is first elected to the Board by delivering an Election
Agreement to the Corporate Secretary of the Company within thirty (30) days
after such election. An Election Agreement, once timely delivered, shall be
effective for the succeeding calendar year (or the remainder of the current
calendar year in the case of a newly elected Director).

Any deferral elections made by a Director of the Company prior to October 26,
1995, shall remain in effect in accordance with the terms of such deferral
election agreement and the Directors' Deferred Compensation Plan in effect when
such elections were made.

A Participant's election to join the Plan shall be irrevocable; shall relate
solely to amounts earned after the filing of a deferral election with the
Corporate Secretary; and shall be made on the Election Agreement, as described
herein.

A Participant shall make the following elections on each Election Agreement:

         (a)      In accordance with Section 3 herein, the amount of Fees to be
                  deferred;

         (b)      In accordance with Section 5 herein, the length of the
                  deferral period;

         (c)      In accordance with Section 6 herein, the investment return
                  choice(s) with respect to deferred amounts; and

         (d)      In accordance with Section 7 herein, the form of payment of
                  deferred amounts following the end of the deferral period;

provided that, except as specified by Sections 5 and 6 herein, each such
election shall be irrevocable.

SECTION 5.  Deferral Period.

Unless the Committee determines otherwise, the deferral period elected by a
Participant with respect to the Participant's Fees for a calendar year shall end
no less than one (1) year from the end of the calendar year in which the Fees
are earned and shall end no more than five (5) years from the end of the
calendar year in which the Participant attains the Company's mandatory
retirement age for non-employee members of the Board. At least one (1) year
before the end of the deferral period, the Participant may elect to extend such
deferral period. Unless the Committee determines otherwise, any extension of the
deferral period shall end no less than one (1) year from the end of the calendar
year in which the previous deferral period ended and shall end no more than five
(5) years from the end of the calendar year in which the Participant attains the
Company's mandatory retirement age for non-employee members of the Board.
However, notwithstanding the deferral periods elected by a Participant, payment
of deferred amounts and accrued investment return thereon shall be made to the
Participant, or the Participant's beneficiary designated pursuant to Section 8
herein, as the case may be, in a single lump sum within 30 days in the event the
Participant's service as a Director of the Company is terminated by reason of
death or disability at any time prior to full payment of deferred amounts and
accrued investment return thereon. "Disability" for this purpose shall mean a
long-term disability as determined in the sole discretion of the Committee.


                                       2
<PAGE>   3

SECTION 6.  Deferred Compensation Accounts.

The Fees which a Participant elects to defer shall be treated as if they were
set aside in an unfunded deferred compensation account, maintained by the
Company or its agent for bookkeeping purposes, on the date the Fees otherwise
would have been paid to the Participant (the "Account"). The obligation of the
Company under the Plan to make payment of Fees and the accrued investment return
with respect to a Participant's account constitutes the Company's unsecured
promise to make payments from its general assets as provided herein. A
Participant shall have the status of a general unsecured creditor of the
Company.

A Participant's Account will be credited with the amount of the deferred Fees
and the investment return on the investment choice (and debited with any losses
thereon) specified by the Participant. The investment return shall be equivalent
to the investment performance during the applicable deferral period of one or
more of the funds available to employee participants in the Delta Family-Care
Savings Plan (i.e., Core Options, Window of Choices and Additional Fidelity and
External Funds) specified by the Participant or, in lieu of or in addition to
such investment choices, such other investment return choices as may be
specified from time to time by the Committee.

Unless the Committee otherwise determines, Participants may change their
investment return choices for amounts deferred under this Plan as often as they
wish by notifying the Corporate Secretary of the Company or agent of the Company
appointed to manage Accounts under this Plan; provided, however, that
Participants should preclear with counsel for the Company a transaction which
increases their future deferrals to the investment equivalent of the Delta
Common Stock Fund (or reallocates their existing account balances into or out of
such fund).

SECTION 7.  Payment of Account.

A Participant's Account balance shall be paid following the end of the deferral
period, as determined under Section 5 herein, in either (a) a single lump sum
cash payment, together with the accrued investment return thereon, as soon as
practicable thereafter, or (b) quarterly installments over a period not to
exceed five (5) years, in either case as elected by the Participant on his or
her Election Agreement pursuant to Section 4 herein. The quarterly installment
payments, if elected, will be based upon a Participant's then existing Account
balance divided by the number of installment payments remaining to be made. A
Participant may submit an alternate payment schedule to the Committee for
approval in its sole discretion.

SECTION 8.  Death of Participant.

A Participant may designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries (who may be named or
successively) who, upon the Participant's death, will receive the amounts which
otherwise would have been paid to the Participant under the Plan. All
designations shall be signed by the Participant, and shall be in substantially
the form attached hereto as Attachment B or as otherwise prescribed by


                                       3
<PAGE>   4

the Committee. Each designation shall be effective as of the date received by
the Corporate Secretary of the Company from the Participant.

Participants may change their designations of beneficiary by submitting a new
designation form. The payment of amounts deferred under the Plan shall be in
accordance with the last unrevoked designation of beneficiary that has been
signed by the Participant and delivered by the Participant to the Corporate
Secretary of the Company prior to the Participant's death.

In the event that all the beneficiaries named by a Participant pursuant to this
Section 8 predecease the Participant, the deferred amounts that would have been
paid to the Participant or the Participant's beneficiaries shall be paid to the
Participant's estate.

In the event a Participant does not designate a beneficiary, or for any reason
such designation is ineffective, in whole or in part, the amounts that otherwise
would have been paid to the Participant or the Participant's beneficiaries under
the Plan shall be paid to the Participant's estate.

SECTION 9.  Amendment and Termination.

The Company hereby reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate the Plan at
any time by action of the Committee or by the Board of Directors. No such
amendment, modification or termination shall in any material manner adversely
affect any Participant's right to deferred amounts, contributions, or accrued
investment return thereon, without the consent of the Participant.

SECTION 10.  Additional Provisions.

Any notice or filing required to be given to the Company or the Corporate
Secretary under the Plan shall be sufficient if in writing and hand delivered,
or sent by registered or certified mail, to the Corporate Secretary of the
Company at such address as is given in the records of the Company. Notices shall
be deemed given as of the date of delivery or, if delivery is made by mail, as
of the date shown on the postmark on the receipt for registration or
certification.

Participants' rights with respect to deferred amounts, contributions and accrued
investment return under the Plan may not be sold, transferred, assigned, or
otherwise alienated or hypothecated, other than by will or by the laws of
descent and distribution. In no event will the Company make any payment under
the Plan to any assignee or creditor of a Participant.

In the event that any provision of the Plan shall be held illegal or invalid for
any reason, the illegality or invalidity shall not affect the remaining parts of
the Plan, and the Plan shall be construed and enforced as if the illegal or
invalid provision had not been included.

All costs of implementing and administering the Plan shall be borne by the
Company. The Plan shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of
the State of Georgia, without reference to principles of conflict of laws. All
obligations of the Company under the Plan shall


                                       4
<PAGE>   5

be binding upon any successor to the Company, whether the existence of such
successor is the result of a direct or indirect purchase, merger, consolidation,
or otherwise, of all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the
Company.



                                       5