I really hope it works out for ya. On a side note though thats what sucks about the seniority system the guys up top dont care about guys at the bottom

And what's worse is that our UNION seems to be afraid to tell these senior guys that maybe they'd be smart to move on before their lump sum retirement is jerked away from them. If they end up losing their lump sums, I know a LOT of pilots who will show NO sympathy for them, including me. I'll probably sit and have a "no pity party" for them as they start screaming that they need to work till they're 80 to make up for all they gambled away and lost. Yep, age 65 sure didn't help the airlines one bit.

They (CALALPA) cannot encourage the seniors to retire right now. A run on the A-Plan by too many would create a shortfall and liquidity issues. There's not enough money available for the lump sum option to be elected by too many pilots. As I understand, it is still minimally funded.

You are absolutely right! Now, if you were in their position and KNEW that the $$$ might not be there much longer, would you wait and see, or would you take the money and run? I wouldn't have to think much longer than a nano-second what I'd do. Kind of shows you the mentality of some of our pilots. They'll gamble till they lose, and then wonder what hit them. Oh well, I guess to them, having 1000 hours of sick bank and a "flying job" making $200,000 a year is much better than being retired and having $750,000 + in the bank.

Could not be more correct. Even CAL-ALPA alluded in the recent Town-hall Meeting that if there is a run on the lump-sum frozen A-Funds during a retirement rush, the company very well could be in on a "liquidity shortfall".

Right now, we are 'just about' the mid-point mark on the 60-65 window since the age change. At least when retirement was a firm age of 60, the various company's had the chance to monitor balance req. vs amount retiring in the next 12 months. Now CAL is in the situation where they have no real hard number on what to expect as 'firm' retirements this year. I can see this being a huge problem since the odds of G-Rate falling coming first Q'2010, possible Ch.11's occurring, ect....all different variables may cause some very real problems in the near future.

Long story short.....if the shoe falls, and there are those left "south of the 50" with nothing to call an A-Fund (the pot 'lack-ith' due to an 'unexpected' run on retirements), I can see there being a lot of retirees saying WT....??

Did someone say something about 1 in the hand vs 2 in the bush??

There aren't possibly enough pilots eligible to retire that could have the adverse effect you describe. There is enough there to adequately fund those eligible to retire. But you don't have to believe me. Send a query to the R&I guys.

It will actually be my 7th. My 6th referred to my first 5.

How about some quotes from the ALPA MEC Chairman at CAL:


"We’ve said publicly that becoming an immunized partner in the world’s largest alliance will provide benefits to our airline and our pilot group." -July 17



"We have all been told that entry into the Star alliance as an immunized carrier will increase growth and therefore pilot jobs." -July 24


"Our Alliance Committee’s work allowed us to speak with educated authority in discussions of future growth as CAL enters the Star alliance as an immunized carrier." -August 7


Do you have anything that indicates something different?

Per the LC 171 meeting today...there are 300 over 60 pilots on property. I think there are enough that could push it to being frozen.

There was an 83 hire discussing his sacrifices, and comparing the pension to playing poker without seeing his cards. The empathy in the room was compelling.

Priceless!

I stand by my statement concerning liquidity issues.

For those that missed it - snapshot was updated today. Usual disclaimer concerning double bids, blah blah blah.

It doesn't look promising for mitigation, unfortunately.