Yeah, it never made sense to me either - even at the original rates.

 

They should overhaul the governance and make each application go through some review board or similar vetting. Maybe make it 12 months on LTD before kicking in. I like the idea of PMA but it is clearly being abused. I'll talk to my reps before opting out. I was on LTD for ~10 months in 2022 due to injury and did not pull from PMA because I didn't need it and am not a scumbag.

 

I'm a little confused. Why would you feel like a scumbag for using a benefit under legitimate circumstances that you have been paying for?

 

He did not need it.

 

Well the system(LTD) is gamed. If you've planned for 6 months to a year or more to go out on LTD then no you shouldn't be using PMA. It's not there as a pay-in pay-out. If that were the case you could just contribute the money to a retirement account or self directed investment vehicle and get better returns than the total allowable benefit of PMA, especially as a younger pilot.

So yes to me, opinion only I guess, it's a little scummy to max your hours for 1.5 years to take advantage of the new LTD for a planned knee replacement and then draw down on PMA that is for unexpected or dire circumstance.

I'm waiting to speak to my rep to decide. I might keep it as the extra 100/mo isn't a huge deal for me but I'm gonna have to be sold and I would like there to be some vetting on who uses it. Vetting might be a pandora's box situation but we'll see what the reps say. As a strict financial tool I think PMA might not be the answer especially with POD LTSB and improved LTD.

Edit: My LTD was unexpected but financially did not need the extra from PMA. I didn't want to take from other pilots that may need it knowing it's completely funded by pilots.

 

All insurance is funded by the insured….

 

Despite the naming convention that APA chose, this isn't a charity. It's not a GoFundMe. It's an insurance product.

 

Exactly.

Filler.

 

Both LTD and sick usage are funded by our contract terms.

 

No. PMA is not insured. If it runs out of money that's it. Those receiving benefits will stop receiving them. If something like POD is underfunded it is insured by the provider and will continue paying until some agreement is reached.

Are you entitled to take PMA? Sure. But all the pilots saying "I paid in I'm entitled to my money" are now causing a 100% increase in fees. Without that increase PMA will default and cease to exist. So yes I believe it is scummy to take these benefits when you don't explicitly need to when there are pilots that may be in trouble that do need it.