Here comes the pension police and the reason we still don’t have a contract. It’s not that we have a pension, it’s our irrational desire to constantly increase it. If you can’t see how it’s held us back then I have nothing else to say to you.

pension on the surface is a fine product. Nobody is debating that. But the second and third order effects of having one are catastrophic to our future bargaining power. Period.

IPA guy here....<wave> Yeah, I know y'all don't like us brownsuits in your mix but hear me out for a moment.

Why go the divisive route of one retirement plan vs. another, and instead improve *both* the DB and DC?

I've thrown it out here before, but a $6600/YOS Flat Dollar Amount would provide the same 25 year benefit of TA1, while costing a LOT less than increasing the FAE limit for everybody since ERISA limits a Flat Dollar to ten years at a time. That would then reallocate retirement "pie" to an increased DC and/or cash-over-cap, and provide a mechanism for bumping the FDA amount $150-200 each DOS anniversary for duration as an inflation hedge.

Older folks get their DB bump, younger folks get more DC money, everybody maintains the 2% FAE as baseline diversified retirement income AND there wouldn't be internal division. Improving both retirement vehicles prevents any body from "losing".

No, a FDA isn't a panacea. It does require extending applicability every contract cycle which uses negotiating capital, but the IPA introduced the FDA in 2006 and has extended/improved it in 2016, 2020 and 2022 so there's plenty of precedent in your peer pilot group that this concept works.

Regardless, know that we're all rooting for ya.

If any FDXer gives you grief for sharing ideas and trying to help, they should be ridiculed. I agree with your comment. Thank you.

The intent of the last TA was to fix retirement once and for all with a major FAE increase, made possible by ending the pension for new hires.

Now we want an even bigger FAE and industry-leading pay rates, while keeping the improved pension for everyone.

To my knowledge, there’s been no consideration of an interim fix or compromise like an age/service multiplier or flat-dollar formula for the pension. The focus has been entirely on a FAE increase.

The result: no progress and the NMB ending our last session early.

Irrational? You have no clue. The pension is for everyone.

The point is that your words ring hollow when you only choose to chastise a single argument as being divisive when you ignore comments from others, including your own that are divisive. Lecture everyone about being on the same team, including your own post that single out a particular demographic, rather than accuse others of participating in a circular firing squad just because some of those shots ring close to home.

A member of the last NC helped UPS with their flat-dollar plan. So maybe it was brought up, maybe not. This argument about the pension being a big hurdle or dividing point is just another way of saying that you don't like the way the compensation is being distributed. An adjustment to the multiplier that equals the FAE in TA1 would have the same effect on the PBO. If you have other ideas, bring it up to your reps or the NC. You can also bring a motion to consider your plan at any local council meeting. If the motion passes, your LEC must bring it to the MEC for consideration.

A one-time increase to the pension disproportionately benefits those closer to retirement since there is no automatic inflation adjustment being negotiated. And it’s super expensive, about $500k per pilot retiring during the life of the next contract. That’s where the majority of the 44% of the $3.8B valuation of TA1 was going, which didn’t leave a lot of money for anything else, and that’s why it failed.

Chub is not wrong. This, as well as the payrates that were negotiated at the majors in the ninth inning of our negotiations killed TA1. I think many if not most of the Yes voters (excluding those on the doorstep of retirement) were happy to proceed and paddle with the team. But to what ends? What has transpired since the failure of the TA has been a complete circus. We should all be ashamed. We want another proffer request? We want to see what’s really on the other side of self help? The company has orchestrated an overmanned situation by instituting COVID operations, scheduling, and the resulting efficiencies on a permanent basis. And we’re more than happy to oblige them. Disputed pairings, Captains picking up First Officer trips, etc. And we think we’re going to get everyone their favorite ponies they’ve been asking for if we just hold fast?