Sure, maybe I’m wrong. I’m happy at purple but if I look at my friends hired 5 years ago at Delta, they are either NB captains or WB FO’s. They have a higher pay rate than me and their 401k deposit with cash over cap is likely worth the same as my pension +B fund.

if you have been here 5 years like your friends at Delta, you ALSO could be a NB captain or WB FO.

Soooooo...

sounds like you have chosen seniority over compensation.

it’s nice to have those options.

ask your pilot friends how they feel about their retirements if they only have B funds/401k and profit sharing after this week in the stock market. my pension only lost to inflation... it's not perfect, but it provides a serious amount of security.

I agree that we probably do better overall because of our ratio of NB/WB aircraft. But I think that even if one upgrades here at the earliest possibility, that NB captain rate still lags the legacies. All pay rates lag way behind those at the legacies, with all three of them slated to get increases in this next round of negotiations before we even get to openers.

Considering the type of flying we do, our rates should always be higher than legacies. I think they will be in this next round since we will have to compete with the legacies for pilots.

Dude, terrible way to look at a stock market correction. Guess what, I feel GREAT about it. Just like in 2009, buying opportunity and the market is up CRAZY in the 10 years since, BEATING inflation.

id take 16% b fund cash over cap any day vice an A plan. And I’m at Fedex.

our A plan is down 17.2% over the last 10 years(inflation eating away at value)
the stock market after today is STILL up 167% over the same time period.

assuming an 80/20 portfolio, that’s ~134% gain, 13% annual gain, vs our A plan’s NEGATIVE 1.7% return.

as long as you didn’t freak out and sell low, your account regained its value in less than 3 years (and more if you kept investing)

Yes the A plan is diminishing over time, but a 7% increase in B fund won’t equal the value of our current A fund for quite some time.

Give me a GUARANTEED $100k+\year in X years AND a separate nest egg to go along with it. Yes, there are going to be the odd balls that average higher returns than the average guy, but that is most certainly not the norm, in fact the minority. At UPS, I’ll happily take my $100k+/year annuity PLUS the 12% the company gives me. Thank you very much!

i guess you better accumulate 3-4 million dollars in your 401k by retirement with no pension to match our pension payment. i wish you luck if you can maintain an 80/20 ratio after 65 to keep your income up with no pension, this would be ill advised and exceptionally risky. in retirement you don't have the option to not sell if it is your income source. i wish you luck.

167%? The market has been great the past few years with maybe 20% for a year but not 167% over 10 years. The A fund needs fixing but I'd rather have both. If you retired this year, your 401K just took a big hit just this month. And if the market takes a hit every few years on media panic and market speculation, you are going to have a hard time in retirement. A constant A fund payout is a huge advantage as a retiree with no way to make any extra money unless you get another job. And UPS just got a contract extension with an increase to their A fund. FedEx can do the same. There is no excuse for not increasing the A fund.

Of course I could be junior CA. I’m senior on my seat as FO, my point is the other legacies have a higher rate for any given seat.
Given different priorities on seniority and variances on compensation, I think a 25-30 year career at FDX or the other legacies is going to have similar earnings.