Originally Posted by RiddleEagle18
I posted this in another forum but I wanted to get a thread started here and see what you guys think? No yelling at each other that gets us nowhere. Lets just get some solid discussion going.
All the airlines need to switch to 401k plans. That way the money is in the bank and we are not funding guys pensions who retired 10 years ago today, when they should have been funded 10 years ago while he was working. This would solve so many problems. They can be rolled over from your first regional job on up the chain so each employeer you have in your career helps carry the burden instead of just your last place of work.
Not to metion that US Airways is retireing 50% of its pilots in the next 10 years. No wonder they have labor cost issues they are paying 50% of their pilots probably pretty close to 12yr pay in thier aircraft. Just a thought. I know it would be a nightmare to switch over now but sometimes the hard thing to do is the right thing. Even if it was a half-half switch giving the younger guys the 401k, that way the next generation of pilots won't carry our load??
I know you are serious, but I have to say that your idea is bad, bad, bad. What you are proposing is tacit approval of one of the biggest rip-offs in history. That is a rip-off of the pilots of USAirwys and United with other groups to follow.
The USAirways pilots pension fund had $1.7 Billion in it when the PBGC took it over. Yes, it was technically underfunded at the point the plan was terminated. That was at the stock market nadir. Contributions into the fund were being made at the legislated rate prior to the events of 9-11 and the stock market crash, but that legislation and the computation of returns was overly optimistic.
Stephen Wolf and his cronies spent over $1 Billion re-purchasing stock in USAirways to prop up the stock price during the time that they could have been using that cash to properly fund the pension with realistic rates of return or otherwise saving the cash for a rainy day. They did this because they were corporate raiders who were simply playing a game to enrich themsleves. When USAirways went bankrupt I lost my pension while Stephen Wolf and his gang walked away with over $50 million in cash.
The PBGC was deliriously happy to terminate the USAirways pilots pension fund because they knew that $1.7 Billion in assets would go a long way to helping them shore up their sick balance sheet and they propbably knew, as any smart investor did, that the stock market crash was only temporary.
You advocate telling these criminals that it is okay to treat labor like crap and steal from them just so you can buy a bigger villa in Palm Beach. Hey, it's a great idea to be self-sufficient, don't get me wrong. I have four plans for retirement and only need one to pay off, but the loss of the USairways pension hurt and it wasn't necessary. It also isn't necessary for United, Delta, or NWA to lose their pensions. Companies need to honor their promises and obligations and the CEOs of these companies need to be held personally responsible when they rip off their employees.
Your idea makes me sick
TP