Rum Runner

See flat bed/lay flat seats
See SLG/Reserve Day blocks
See bidding for training
See 6 year contract duration!
I could go on...


We want the same negotiation success with our entire retirement?

BLOB

FEDEX pilots did not make a high 5 of $260k to max out their pension in 1999. That did not consistently happen until AFTER the 2006 contract was signed. A common misconception is that retirement has not been improved since 1999. FEDEX grew into the full value of its A fund ~2008. A 5% B fund has grown slowly to 8% and will be 9% in a little over a year. Sure our retirement has plenty of room for improvement but it is misleading to compare $130k in 1999 to now. A majority of pilots simply weren’t achieving that until around 2008. $130k today is more like $110k in 2008 when most guys actually started maxing our our A fund. Yes it is declining in value but that is a more appropriate comparison of where we are today.

VB comes nowhere near a 50% replacement ratio of pre-retirement income which was the goal back in 1999. The modeler shows a new hire today will have a whopping 27% replacement ratio on VB at the floor benefit after 25 years of service...and he will work harder for it (every year every dollar vs high 5). Is that what we should be shooting for? There are ways to address the declining purchasing power of our existing A fund. VB is not the only option and certainly not the best option.

Do you think we will see any future meaningful increases to our B fund if VB gets voted in? The union won’t “waste” the negotiating capital and the company will say they already “fixed” retirement.

Will VB generate enough retirement income to cover income lost to a delayed upgrade that was the result of abandoning a high 5 retirement. The law of unintended consequences will kick that new guy in the teeth who thinks he will be a 757 captain on his first bid and a WB captain in 8 years like I hear guys projecting.

Let’s not just use the VB modeler and vote yes when it spits out a slightly larger number. This will affect more than just your retirement check.

busdriver12

I question how accurate the VB modeler will be when ALPA puts it out. It might look rosy, but I can see the company saying, "That's not how we saw it. We didn't publish that modeler," AFTER it is voted in. I would never even consider something that the company did not put their written agreement to, for everyone to see.

Hey, we'll fix it in the next contract, right?

kronan

TonyC

Capital Gains, Dividends, etc will all be rolled into the value of the Pension funds. Just because we don't "see" them in our notional shares doesn't mean that they don't exist.

Many FedEx pilots are military, and are invested in the TSP. I've left my funds in the TSP because although the choices are minimal, the fees are darn low. And although I've been invested in Govt Bonds, Govt/Corporate/Mortgage bonds, and various stocks...I don't show a single occasion of reinvested dividends or Capital Gains, just increases or decreases in value

Nightflyer

Here is the lawyer speak from the modeler that you had to agree to before you could use it.

It looks like they are saying "we know this is BS", even before you use it.

Begin quote:

By clicking “Agree”, you acknowledge the following:
Use of this product is restricted to authorized FedEx Pilots, members of FDX Master Executive Council (MEC) and employees of Air Line Pilots Association. This product is offered as part of the FDX MEC’s ongoing education campaign concerning the variable defined benefit concept under consideration. This product is not offered for the purpose of financial, retirement planning, or legal advice. Various aspects of the variable defined benefit concept are subject to negotiation. Various assumptions have been made for the purpose of making the product operational and not as a representation concerning any final plan design. Estimates shown in this product rely on future demographic and economic experience conforming to the underlying assumptions and methods. To the extent actual experience deviates from the underlying assumptions and methods, or there are any changes in plan provisions or applicable laws, the estimates would vary accordingly. As such, users may not rely on the estimates as their actual retirement benefit.
Cheiron, Inc. owns all intellectual property rights in this product. Use of this product is subject to monitoring. Any unauthorized use of this product, including any attempt to modify, adapt, recreate, duplicate, reproduce, reverse engineer, “unlock,” decompile, combine or disassemble the product, is strictly prohibited. Use of this product does not create any third party rights in any user, and Cheiron assumes no duty or liability to any user. Cheiron disclaims all warranties with respect to the product, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, performance, quality, informational accuracy, and non-infringement. In no event shall Cheiron be liable to any user for any indirect, special, incidental, economic, or consequential loss or injury of any nature arising out of or caused in whole or in part by the use of this product.
AGREE REJECT

kronan

Go to Vanguard, go to Fidelity, go to any Financial forecasting service and they have similar legalese.

Regardless of the legalese, I still invest in stocks versus burying Coffee cans full of Cash in my back yard-or hiding Gold coins in the house

Nightflyer

Of course, the new modeler, after the agreement is negotiated, will include a statement that says:

"This is based on the union's interpretation of the language, not the company's. However, we expect in the future to lose 99% of any grievances filed by the union regarding this language, and for the company to prevail in almost all cases regarding any contract language disagreements. Therefore, this model cannot be used to predict what you will actually receive when you retire, if you don't work yourself to death first, because, after all, "every dollar counts".

"Of course, any person who has already attained their high 5 and 25 years is certain to receive an increased retirement, at the expense of everyone junior to them."

StarClipper

I hope I’m not the only one who is concerned here on how this is shaping to really have an impact on the VB Plan being forced down our throats.

1. FedEx senior Captain elected as ALPA president.
2. FedEx MEC elected Wes “great guy but one of the biggest pushers for the VB Plan” as group A “EVP”

The “EVPs” and four national officers, make up ALPA's Executive Council. The Executive Council oversees fiscal and budgetary matters for the union and participates in policy decisions.

That VB Plan has ALPA written all over it. I’ll wait to see what their 3rd move will be.

FrankTheTank

#2. Has that dude ever flown the line?

busdriver12

Maybe not. But then again, neither has StarClipper, so...