Delta seeks to terminate pilots' pension program

[CHIMO]

ATLANTA (AP) — Delta Air Lines Inc. filed a formal request with bankruptcy court late Friday to terminate its pilots' pension plan, as President Bush prepared to sign a bill aimed in part at helping the struggling carrier save its other employees' pensions.

If the court in New York approves Delta's request to cancel its pilots' pensions effective Sept. 2, the government's pension insurer would take over the plan and pay pilots a reduced benefit based on when they retire and other factors. A hearing on the request is set for Sept. 1.

The 6,000 pilots, as part of a $280 million concessions agreement with the company first reached in April, have agreed not to oppose the pension termination request, though other groups may oppose it. Atlanta-based Delta notified the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. in June of its intent to seek termination of the plan.

"Unless the pilot plan is terminated, Delta will very soon face an operational and financial crisis that will prevent it from emerging from Chapter 11," the airline said in its filing.

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&pubid=968163964505&cid=1154728213782&col=968705899037&call_page=TS_News&call_pageid=968332188492&call_pagepath=News/News

[LuckyLib]

1. But they will have no problem paying their "top dogs" a hefty

package including stock options. They are corporate criminals, and this should be illegal. Pensions are evaporating and congress is allowing it. The bastids.

[MichiganVote]

2. Sad....these used to be very good jobs....

[flyarm]

3. ya know..as a senior flight attendant for another #1 carrier..i remember

having a layover with a cockpit crew during one of little lord pissy pants debates with Gore..and this cockpit crew was so pro little lord pissy pants..but my husband was in baseball and was with the baseball union when little lord pissy pants tried everything he could to bust his union..i warned these pilots..i warned every pilot i flew with..but they did not listen..they were all gung ho little lord pissy pants..in fact i got in a huge debate with my cockpit crew..they were all young guys..and thought they had the world by the tail..but i flew through the days when reagan almost destroyed the Airline business..when the flight crews where forced to go into A& B pay scales..but they would not listen..no siree..they knew it all..and they loved little lord pissy pants..it was a long trip with this cockpit crew and i was #1 flight attend so i had to deal with this cocky cockpit crew all through the 3 day trip..i have often wondered..are they so smug now..are they laid off..or have they taken the pay cuts and cuts in the pension?

i just wonder..but what i wonder more than anything..when will Americans stop voting against themselves..

what will it take??

i do just wonder what has happened to this cockpit crew,..i picked up this domestic trip..and i was so senior to this crew..but they would not listen..

and i wonder..

when will they ever learn..when will they ever learn??

i have a hard time finding sympathy today for what is happening to those who didn't take early retirement..as i did..

they are fucked..seriously fucked..and they did it to themselves!

fly

[Demeter]

13. YOung Men Listen? To An Older Person (Male or Female)?

Not in any of our lifetimes, I'm afraid. Ignorance, arrogance and male pride. Worse than drinking and driving.

[sarcasmo]

17. Kick and Nom. All Pensions are in trouble with these thief's in office.

[mitchtv]

15. when they came for the mechanics..

I didn't care, cause I wasn't a mechanic
when they came for the flight attendants,
I crossed the picket line , cause I was a lofty pilot
Now they want to screw the pilots
and guess what? the co workers we scorned, weren't there for me

Always a professional(republican) union
It happens all the time
the high paid workers are offered a bonus to screw the lower paid ones, until finally they got mostly second tier employees, who are more than willing to dump on the "elites"
they brought it on themselves

[flyarm]

19. exactly but please add : they came for Patco..and no one cared..

thank you..

fly

[October]

20. My husband is a pilot -- very dem, very pro-union

It's true there are tons of pilots (most are ex-military types) who just cannot grasp the politics of the situation. They are brain-washed or something and think unions are socialist and anti-American. Unbelievably, they think the CEO will take care of them, and many vote republican. It's BIZARRE! They need to read "Flying the Line," which details the history of the airline pilots association, sadly revealing how little has changed since the 1930s!

But think about it. Airlines screen their potential employees probably more than any other industry. So...it's really no wonder their employees are the way they are. That's who they hire!

As a former flight attendant myself, I've seen/heard what you've described. My husband has to suffer because of these clowns. They didn't ALL vote to fuck themselves! There are many, like my husband, who have given their all to lead the union and educate the union members. It's an enormous struggle.

McCain is totally anti-union (anti-pilots mostly). No surprise that he's involved in a lot of these "transportation" issues. Bush the elder wanted cabotage, too, and it's coming. I'm afraid it's only going to get uglier.

[oasis]

4. More evidence of Bush's booming economy.

:puke:

[DemoTex]

5. Welcome to the club, DAL pilots.

Our US Airways pilots pension plan was terminated on 3/31/2003. The then-CEO, Dave Siegel, was canned later that year and left with a $10-million golden parachute. The legislation that Bu$h is to sign does nothing address the gross inequities/discrimination that pilots with terminated pensions face with the Draconian PBGC rules.

[MaineDem]

6. That sucks so badly!

Did eliminating the pension also affect those who had already retired and were receiving the pension?

[DemoTex]

7. Only those who took a lump sum prior to 3/31/2003 were spared.

And lump sums were not always an option prior to 2003. It was a function of the Fed Funds rate. All pension annuities were terminated on 3/31/2003. There was no grandfathering of those on pensions prior to that date.

Here is what sucks even worse. The PBGC maximum benefit is about $45,000 per year for a 65 year old. However, airline pilots are required by law to retire at age 60. So the PBGC considers an airline pilot retirement at age 60 an "early retirement", and will pay only a maximum of $28,000 per year.

Keep in mind that our pensions were negotiated in good faith bargaining according to the rules of the Railway Labor Act. To secure a pension of $X, our pay-pie took a $X slice. Our pension was deferred income, and US Airways and the Federal Bankruptcy Court took that income from us on 3/31/2003 with no promise to make it whole when the company emerged from Chapter 11. Well, not only has US Airways emerged from bankruptcy, but it has merged with America West. The "new" US Airways reported the highest 2Q/2006 profit ($305-million) of all the major hub&spoke airlines.

[MaineDem]

9. That makes me so angry

My husband just turned 62 and is now collecting Social Security. He never expected to have it there when he retired but so far so good. He gets very little pension from his retirement.

I'm just holding my breath that my company continues to pay me my pension. It's a fairly stable company but who the hell knows what will happen. I agree that this benefit was negotiated and paid for while I was working and it's so totally unfair to change it after-the-fact.

As a retiree I feel so helpless. And I'm so obviously not alone.

[shrike]

10. Yeah, people don't understand about pensions

That are negotiated in lieu of pay, or deferred pay. A lot of people I talk to seem to think pensions are some gift. Robbing a pension is outright stealing.

[0007]

8. Corporate America bringing more love and togetherness for

the working man & woman. Isn't progress wonderful?

More for the CEOs, eh?

[Kailassa]

11. All going according to plan ...

the future of America is a 2-class sytem.

Ruling-class and desperate, half-starved slave-class.

It might end up 3 class ... if the millions in the fema camps also count as a class.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

12. - MSN- While pensions fall short, CEOs fly high

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/P119362.asp

Company Focus
While pensions fall short, CEOs fly high

Ford, GM, United Airlines, Continental. They're just four of the companies struggling with falling profits and pension problems as their executives get huge payouts.

By Michael Brush

snip
In the executive suites of these companies, however, there's no pain to be found. United Airlines chief executive Glenn Tilton collected $3.4 million in compensation in the year leading up to the airline’s 2002 bankruptcy. He received another $4.5 million of his pre-bankruptcy pay package in 2003-2005.

snip
Consider the case of Continental Airlines (CAL, news, msgs). Last year, with Continental and other major airlines facing massive losses and the threat of bankruptcy, outgoing Continental chief Gordon Bethune took a $22 million lump-sum payment from his retirement plan. At the same time, Continental's pension plan is underfunded by $1.58 billion.

snip
Like United Airlines, Delta Air Lines (DAL, news, msgs) may wind up in bankruptcy. If so, that could mean the federal government will have to pick up the tab for Delta’s pension obligations just like at United Airlines -- all but assuring retirement benefits will be dramatically cut.

snip
Delta has the fifth-largest pension shortfall, at $5.3 billion. But former chief executive Leo Mullin collected $23.5 million in the three years before his departure as head of Delta two years ago.

[anotherdrew]

14. fine, they failed to run their business, let it die. Let Delta fail

Let all the failed businesses in this country fail, it's high time some new blood got a chance to run things. Maybe if their leadership hadn't been incompetent this wouldn't have happened, somehow I bet they're not terminating the Golden-parachutes of their executives.

[IndyBob]

16. Don't forget

the bail-out of the airlines after 9/11. Hundreds of millions in tax money given to the airlines, only for the airlines to turn around, pay the CEOs hundreds of millions in stock options and golden parachutes, and steal the promised pensions of the workers.

I absolutely agree this administration is pushing for a two class system. Those that are in the upper 2% will have their status guaranteed, while the rest of us are lucky to be fed a scrap or two from our betters. The revised tax structure, bankruptcy laws (only the rich may apply), elimination of student grants and loans, increased tuition......I'm gonna be sick. They are destroying America.

Those that voted for little miss pissy pants W have been deluded into thinking they are very close to becoming part of the upper 2%. Will there be a revolution when these morons finally realize they too have been screwed?

[Sgent]

18. Why do airlines suck so much as a business?

For the last 35 years, airlines have been going in and out of business. Anyone remember Eastern, BOAC, Pan American, TWA, etc?

More people are flying, more miles, and the only people making money is FUN and WN. Everyone else is either in bankruptcy, coming out of it, or looking at it as an option...

[October]

21. Deregulation...

It's so expensive to run an airline. The CEO types want their millions and the public wants "bus fare" pricing -- so the answer is to blame labor.