End the Pension Now, replace it with…
 

Heard this idea the other day that's not being talked about...


Pay each pilot 150K for every year of service into 401K or another retirement account he/she controls immediately

That would require ~10.5B of the 20+B currently in the pension fund

From that moment on every pilot gets 18% Cash over Cap into B plan. Get rid of MBCPBPBCPBCP notion

- Every current pilot instantly on the same plan (retired pilots stay on pension)
- Never negotiate retirement ever again, which frees NC up to hammer pay scales and QOL every cycle like Delta
- Eliminates the old pilot vs new pilot strife surrounding retirement priorities
- Eliminates yes voters based on retirement section alone

Big winners are our estates and our unity. I can't think of anyone who loses, including the company...

Discuss pros and cons

I like it.

First, don't negotiate in public.

Second, the pension fund includes way more people than the pilot group.

Copy on negotiating in public. How are we supposed to talk about ideas and see if they are good or not?

And yes I know about the pension. Change the numbers to capture the pilots' share whatever that is

I like the premise of there being a buyout for anyone who ditches the pension moving forward. There needs to be some sort of compensation for relieving the company of the burden of maintaining the pension fund.

That being said, the fund is not just for us, and using that amount of money could jeopardize the fund for those still on the pension. Interesting idea, would like to see the numbers behind it.

Talk amongst your friends, AOC or the other pilot you are flying with. You could also send a DART with your ideas to your block rep, the MEC chair and the negotiating committee.

Can they just lump sum contribute into your 401k beyond traditional IRS limits? Legitimate question. Not sure that is possible.

Con: Big tax hit immediately, you can't just dump all of that into a 401k, pre-tax IRA, or even a Roth. Annual contribution limits would apply and also taxes.

Need to get more creative on the distribution.

Company would love this. Guy retiring today with the TA 1 numbers would essentially have a 2.7 million annuity and your proposed payout would be about 1.5 million

No idea on legality but IRS and the lawyers would work it out. Gotta be a way to transfer a lump sum over and defer taxes. If you got to use a cash balance plan to do it then fine.