Originally Posted by
Profane Kahuna
I see a pension and I see a liability. Something that could be taken away at any point leaving you and your family with a huge hole in retirement income.
It’s happened at almost every airline that had a pension. What would you do if it happens the day after you retire?
Do you have any idea, have done any research into these pension plans? The structure, the funding levels?
While nothing is impossible, Fedex and UPS were still making money during the great recession. There are two ways for a company to get rid of a pension plan, and one of them is now very limited (bankruptcy), the other being the union negotiating it away. Again, while not impossible, I simply can’t see Fedex or UPS getting to the level of bankruptcy, especially when revenue and income has steadily been increasing for many years, high single digits solid and steady, with a small trough 2009-2011. Personally, I’d rather have say a 25-30% DC in lieu of a mixed DB/DC, but that will most likely never happen.
Comparing the Legacy DB wipe out with Fedex/UPS is not even in the same ballpark.
Basing, well, living in base is completely priceless!! WN is a great job, however, IF upgrade time is important to someone, I would most definitely not go to WN. You are going to sit right seat for a looooooong time, and the large amount of hiring the last 5 years would make me hesitate a bit. Very young work force.
Flying 10pm to 6am consistently is very hard on the body, takes a lot of discipline to get proper amount of rest, exercise, etc, not for everyone, regardless of $$$$$.
No right or wrong answer.