You're spreading the payments out over time," says McClain. Delta's union leaders have taken "initial steps" to examine options and are looking to hire outside consultants who specialize in retirement plans, according to a memo sent to pilots. Good move from the consumers aspect. Very interesting read you have given us about Northwest Airlines. Delta pilots have met with counterparts at FedEx Corp., where union leaders are evaluating possible remedies to a shortfall in retirement benefits for the company's senior aviators. It is posted here for informational purposes only. Many products featured on this site were editorially chosen. United pilots' pension fund was terminated in its 2002 bankruptcy and taken over by the PBGC. She pointed out that the plaintiffs entitlement to workers compensation actually was never determined because the parties settled without stipulating to liability. "And three, there is some legislation and ways to do that by simply amortizing payments over a longer period of time.". Instead of assuming the long-term average performance of the stock market, actuaries are allowed to make shorter-term predictions about the future performance of the stock market. The couple paid off their house and cars, and his wife later went back to work. Page 15 of 61. FedEx never filed for bankruptcy, but its current defined benefit plan has limitations that have capped benefits well below pilots' final earnings level, Mr. Dyer said. US Airways Pilots Still Fight for Pension Payouts, 11 Years After 2015 2019 KN Aviation / Privacy Policy, No, I am not going to tell you how to fly in first class and sip Dom Perignon for free. Northwest's CEO Doug Steenland said the carrier has strong and committed supporters in Congress trying to make the needed changes in pension law. Argentina Australia Belgi (Nederlands) Belgique (Franais) Brasil The Senate has passed a measure that would give Northwest and the other major airlines 20 years to catch up on their pension contributions -- nearly three times as long as most companies would get under a major revision of the pension law that has been passed by both houses of Congress. administration expenses 3,405,000. benefits paid Officials of the Labor Department confirmed the investigation but declined to elaborate, other than to say it was a civil matter concerning the parts of the pension law that deal with funding and the disclosure of information to participants and regulators. Aviation Finance as an Instrument of Power, How Much Money Do You Need to Retire? Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. expressed concern about a flood of requests from companies, and some union-run plans, to waive or postpone their mandatory annual contributions. 8. In addition, Ericksen found that the settlement calculations do not reflect the type of workers compensation entitlement claimed by each plaintiff. Copyright 2023 Asset International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. information was included, amount of money in the fund at the beginning of the The other: coupons to begin paying Delta $907 a month for his family's health insurance, since he no longer had a pension check from which to deduct it.