Originally Posted by
Bluetruth
Before the contract the B6 pilots got guaranteed min. 5 percent profit sharing upfront along with all the other employees. The pilots lost this and instead got the 8 percent raise and 5 percent extra added to their 401k money the company contributes (which is now 15 percent, and higher/better than the other groups).
The OTHER employees kept the guaranteed 5 percent profit sharing payout but did not get the higher 401k contributions the pilots got (so they are in effect getting a 5 percent 401k match + a 5 percent 401k contribution through what you call "the cliff" so 15 percent 401k contribution for pilots vs. 10 percent for everyone else).
You're conflating profit sharing and retirement, and that is exactly what management hopes you'll do.
JB pilots have a 401k contribution that is on the low end of industry standard. In other words, it should be higher.
Other employees at JB have a decent 401k system for office workers and manual laborers nationwide (albeit less than many of their counterparts at other major airlines), aside from the conflation of profit sharing and retirement.
"The cliff" should not be present in JB pilots' 15% retirement because retirement has nothing to do with profit sharing. If JB management wanted to be honest, they would just rework the formula with the 5% missing from the front end so it doesn't appear to be a bait and switch.