I know my ramblings are sometimes not clear, but as pilots we have a history in financial calculations of not appreciating the executive suite understanding of the terms ownership and value.
Just as a cash balance plan has the sales point of a minimum value ROI, it will also come with a ROI cap. The PBGC and corporations are not so foolish to obligate for an open ended ROI to plan beneficiaries. General practices indicate this cap is typically around 6%.
Being that in our case the plan sponsor will be both the payer of contributions, and the recipient of those contributions as holder of the trust, the exchange between employer-employee-trustee is nothing more than an accounting exercise.
Presently, when a pilot receives excess 401 payment it is a tangible exchange. It shows up in your paycheck and bank account. You can spend it, save it, or give it away.
In the proposed cash balance plan you will still see the accounting of the exchange on your pay statement. As tax deferred income.
And you will see a corresponding 'deposit' to the CBDB plan.
But understand this will not necessarily be a tangible exchange.
IF.....the trust asset base performance ROI exceeds the capped value, and the trust actuarial calculation supports the ROI adjusted basis to pay (your) accrued benefit levels..... the plan sponsor (delta) is not compelled to make the earned tangible exchange.
So delta simply takes the money out of one corporate 'pocket', and puts it the other corporate 'pocket'. And you....the employee, are none the wiser. The excess 401 cash you thought you 'earned'...was instead represented by an over performance of the trust assets above the capped ROI.
While the alpa 'experts' will tell you the CBDB plan will 'always' be funded at 100%......what is not said is the plan will likewise NEVER be funded over 100%. Or as close to it as the management custodians can call it.
There is no requirement to do so on the part of the plan sponsor. So there will never be 'excess' funding for that rainy day, when delta and the economy falls on hard times.