Originally Posted by
Tailhookah
I fly w/ a lot of those top of the list A guys. From what I’ve heard, a lot of them have said they would take a AA style SIL buyout in a heartbeat. Don’t forget that they all have either a frozen pension or a PBGC retirement as well... the guys who I’ve had this conversation with all have friends who feel the same way. So at least in the big categories, I bet there’s more that would take it than you think.
The NWA plan is frozen and the value does not increase with age. That is why they felt in the SLI negotiations that most NWA pilots would retire at 60. The PBGC payment goes up substantially every year you don’t take it so waiting to 65 is a no brainer. In the end however I understand the average retirement ages both North and South are almost identical. I think any plan is not going to have a huge number of takers. I am hearing rumors about a company wide plan which would be offered to pilots being 1 week of pay for each year of service up to 32 weeks in a lump. I really can’t see the company paying lumps out at the moment but the source was good. If true and I am skeptical the devil would be defining a weeks pay. Would it be based off FAE or 80 hours a month. Big difference for some.