Q7: Will my period of active duty be considered a break in service with my employer and impact my eligibility to participate in my employer's retirement plan or my vesting or benefit accrual under the plan?
No. USERRA requires that the period of military duty be counted as covered service with the employer for eligibility, vesting, and benefit accrual purposes. Returning service members are treated as if they had been continuously employed regardless of the type of retirement plan the employer has adopted. However, a person who is reemployed is entitled to accrued benefits resulting from employee contributions only to the extent that he or she actually makes the contributions to the plan.

This question has not been important for me in the past, but dealing with Continental Airlines and the residual effects of Frank Lorenzo has made it a factor. Believe it or not, my union representation has told me that CAL is not responsible for making contributions to my B-fund while activated. A major part of the military pilot's class-action lawsuit against CAL is their contributions to our retirement while activated. From the text above, it seems pretty clear that companies have to continue retirement contributions while an employee is activated.

I'd like to know if other airlines contribute to the A/B/C funds while an employee is activated?

Thanx