Tuck,
To answer your questions, the MEC and NC chair told me that the start up costs would be in the billions. Maybe they were exaggerating, maybe not. If they were, I don't see the point.
Second, the question about the company offer of increasing the DB plan if we went to a DC plan came from a former MEC chair as well as several others who were involved with the MEC at the time.
Third, you mentioned in a reply to USMCFDX about the VB Plan calculator being very conservative. Didn't that calculator use the returns from the stock market, not the average FDX DB plan performance. They used that number for around 10 to 15 years, and then used the hurdle rate. Why not use the FDX DB plan performance rate or less if they wanted to be conservative? As I said earlier, what is the motivation for the company to get any return more than is required to stay above a floor rate, if they agree to a floor rate? Keeping the performance low would significantly reduce their longevity risk. It's much easier to keep underperforming the markets than outperforming them.