As a Brown outsider...

Yes our defined benefit will not exceed the existing FDX defined benefit until 2023, and then only if you hit 30 YOS. That said, our defined contribution plan is still 3% higher than FDX which amounts to $7800 more into MPP each year at the FDX $260k compensation limit.

While this is your thread, we pattern off each other and gains for one can help provide leverage for gains for the other.

In order to maintain your existing 25 YOS $130k max defined benefit, you'd need a flat dollar amount of $5200/YOS, about 18% higher than the UPS 2023 rate of $4400/YOS for Captains. Of course you'd need to determine/negotiate if your FDA YOS rate would be for everybody or Captains only with a smaller rate for pilots who never flew as Captain, and while I'm no ERISA expert I'd be curious what funding requirements for that would look like vs. 2% FAE. Of course, it'd have to be negotiated every CBA...but that would provide an opportunity for incremental $100/YOS bumps to provide increased value/inflation hedge over time, and the change in mechanism could provide an opportunity to negotiate an extended YOS max to 30 for those who would be able to go beyond 25.

Purely academic...not sure there's a 'right' or 'wrong' way so long as the objective gets met or at least the needle moved in that direction.

Good luck!