Originally Posted by gloopy

It just doesn't seem realistic that nothing can be done outside of Ch.11. They easily could have reduced future accrual rates early on into C2K with a side letter when they knew it was out of whack. What if the company stayed healthy and never went into BK, but the pilots all wanted to freeze the pension and go to a B fund system instead. Would that be "outlawed"? I don't think so. Its not a matter of why didn't they retroactively eliminate the pensions outside of Ch.11, which of course would not have been possible, but rather why wasn't something done to at least attempt to increase the sustainability of it.

There was most certainly in the interest of a very powerful lobby of a couple thousand guys who were about to punch out at the absolute apex of C2K grandeur who made sure nothing was changed, frozen or reduced in any capacity so they could get theirs. Some even aggressively green slipped with guys on the street. I really doubt they were lamenting that there was nothing that could be done legally. There were options, but they would have none of it. Bonus: some even got to come back and double dip after skating off with a retirement that no one else would ever get throwing the already retired guys to the PBGC wolves because of the insanely negligent terms of retirement (effectively zero notice, give me my millions based off my C2K high water marks, let me double dip, screw everyone else).

The point remains, a very powerful lobby of a few thousand guys can accomplish a lot. Let's just hope that if such a motivated demography ever rises up again to apply pressure to the nerves of the union (ALPA, DPA or the United Sand Volleyball Aviators Guild) that the outcome is this time favorable to everyone rather than a massive windfall for a few at the direct expense of everyone else.