DAL and UAL guys: Was your A plan "bought"?

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03-17-2011 | 07:00 AM

#11

tsquare

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From: 767er Captain

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAL 88 Driver

Yeah, that's why I left out anything about the PBGC in my earlier post. I do not expect to ever see any of that money.

Yup... it's yet another well run government plan.. Man that was hard to type.

03-17-2011 | 08:00 AM

#12

tomgoodman

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From: 767A (Ret)

"It was what it was"

Quote:

Originally Posted by alfaromeo

... in the end we recovered more money than the we lost in the pension termination.

Interesting -- I didn't know the "bottom line" result of the pension-dump for the active guys. It was a different story for retired pilots, who took a large, retroactive cut in compensation for work which had already been performed, with no chance to earn it back. I'm glad you guys didn't take that hit too, on top of your pay cuts for future work. Restoration of the pay scale may take a while, but I hope you get it.

03-17-2011 | 08:08 AM

#13

tsquare

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From: 767er Captain

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomgoodman

Were you Western by chance?

03-17-2011 | 08:22 AM

#14

tomgoodman

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From: 767A (Ret)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tsquare

Were you Western by chance?

Nope, but old "Pre" Ball once said: "The MSY base isn't really Delta."

03-17-2011 | 08:26 AM

#15

jsled

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From: 737 CA

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAL 88 Driver

From my perspective at DAL... No, it was stolen. We did get some claim and note money. Officially, that was a token in exchange for the massive pay cuts we took, not for loss of retirement. But most of it went tax free into our 401k and DC Plans. So, in effect, it was a boost to our "new" retirement. For me personally, I'll have to fly to age 65 to do it... but I think my 401k and DC Plan will end up providing an income in retirement comparable to what I would have had with the pension. (No guarantees, of course.) Would have been nice to have both... and to be able to retire at 60 as originally planned. But the good news is that I should still have a decent retirement.

This was the difference between UAL and DAL. At UAL, we had a DC and DB plan simultaneously for decades. When the DB plan was terminated, we still had our DC plan, and increased the contribution from 9 to 16%. Since we had both, our DB plan was not near as lucrative as DAL's. Therefore, when it was terminated, we did not receive as much compensation as DAL did for theirs. But what we did get was added to our already existing DC plan. For a 1997 hire with 8 years in and 24 to go, (based on age 60) that ended up being 65K (DB bond money) added to existing DC balance. As well as 83K (stock claim sale) for the pay and benefit cuts. Not bad, but definetly will not make up for the 100K/yr pension I was promised. But the PBGC has promised me about 1100/mo!!

So I got that going for me....which is nice.

03-17-2011 | 08:37 AM

#16

tsquare

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From: 767er Captain

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomgoodman

Nope, but old "Pre" Ball once said: "The MSY base isn't really Delta."

The reason I asked was that I heard from a lot of Western guys the old saw about getting our retirement in our own name, and like a newly indoctrinated Delta FE full of the Virginia Avenue koolaid, I didn't really pay much attention to that.. Then, when you guys got whacked in BK, I definitely saw the wisdom in what they said. I'm sorry that things turned so bad for you guys.. truly I am. It sucks and was wrong....

03-17-2011 | 08:59 AM

#17

alfaromeo

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Quote:

Originally Posted by tomgoodman

The PBGC got a large claim, because we got a large claim. That claim resulted in the large PC-5 recovery that also went to benefit retired pilots. Most retired pilot's losses were in non-qualified funds which were paid directly from the company coffers. It was called non-qualified for a reason, it was completely at risk in a bankruptcy. You received a bankruptcy claim for that loss.

Most retired pilots took the lump sum because they wanted to get as much money for their families as possible. One of the major reasons the plan went under was because too many pilots took too much money out at once. If things had gone differently, you would have your money and I would have nothing. How you view that depends upon which side of the fence you are sitting on.