familyatm, not trying to twist the facts here. you are right, that is how the retirement age is defined. the math is the same. I was using the ultimate early retirement age and maximum penalty for brevity's sake. As the language points out, it is far too easy to change it to ensure that those planning on going at 55, or those planning on going at 60 at 100% of the pension value, will no longer be able to do so. Two quick strokes of the pen and it's over.

You are right again. I don't believe a defined benefit plan will be around in 20 years either. They are going away faster than DC10s in the corporate US. FWS is already on record saying he wants to be on that train.

I'm not trying to induce panic here either. Negotiations take time, sometimes too much time. And this isn't the time for the grandfathers in the crewforce to be working out some sort of grandfather clause into the new deal. It's also not time for my favorite grey-whiskered, beer buying left seaters to be striving to eek out a few more percentage points for the mulitplier. It's time for the entire crewforce to learn about how quickly one of the three pillars of their planned retirement can be chopped by fifteen percent. It's time for everyone to consider what will happen to their plan if this thing changes. It's time to negotiate this thing while it's still possible to obtain a win/win. Fedex wants it now, and with the right terms, I believe the crew force can win now. In two years, we won't have that option.

It sounds like some pilots will be diving on their sword when this happens, which may be good for the collective iq or our bunch...might open up a few more spots for those smart enough to realize how many dollars we're talking about here. My desire is to influence this while we still have a chance.
The best time to influence something like this is before it is set in stone (ala the ALPA support for the switch to age 65). At the very least, let's get this issue to a vote....once everyone has had a chance to see how the varying options could impact their future. If the majority want the status quo, I'll shut up. If I'm right, and we can make this thing work to our advantage, you can buy me beers with the 15% you saved, while I'm still flying boxes and you are strolling around on your walker.