I thought y'all got own-occupation in the "new" contract.

 

It’s in there

 

Did something change? It was own occupation when we signed the contract.

 

No an expert, but I think it is own occupation, meaning even if the the doctor says you are healthy, but the FAA denied your medical you get paid. If you go out and get a job they will deduct the salary from the Ltd payment. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

What would be the tax status of the buy up if one had to actually use it? I know what the company provides is taxable but the buy up is paid for with pre tax money, so how does that work exactly when it comes time to file your taxes?

 

Ding ding ding. Correct.

Own occupation means if you can’t fly, but can work as a Walmart greeter, doesn’t matter, you can’t fly, you get paid.

IF you have W2 or 1099 income while on LTD, your LTD will offset against your other earnings. So you don’t work on the books, otherwise it’s free.

And originally it was $5000 is taxable and the optional buy up was tax free, up to $10k. Recently we got the message saying that the buy up premiums increased, so the company has to pay a higher share, so now the buy up will start to become taxable by the percentage the premium increases every year. This is much more concerning than off setting income. With premiums increasing YoY, it won’t be long until a large percentage of the buy up is taxable, as well as the original $5,000 company provided.

The exact language from the Union was
“LTD Buy-up - The premiums for LTD Buy-up are increasing 5%. Actual increases are projected at 11%, but the contractual cap is 5%. Since the company is paying 6% of the LTD Buy-up premium, 6% of the LTD Buy-up benefit will become taxable in addition to the $5,000 benefit payable under the Core LTD plan.”

So now if you qualify for the $10k buy up and go out on LTD in 2020 it’s
$5,000 taxable
$600 taxable of the buy up
$9400 tax free.

And that will increase every year. Won’t take long for the tax benefits to be gone

 

While I agree with what you’re saying I’d rather be paying the taxes on the increase the company is forced to pay than actually paying the increase. Also being able to have income on top of LTD when you can’t hold a medical is a bigger deal than some taxes on the benefit. 60% of guarantee isn’t replacing my income so I should be able to supplement my LTD with a job. Add in the fact that we lose medical after five years on LTD we would need that job to have affordable healthcare.

Our LTD took a quantum leap for the better in this contract but it has a long way to go to truly protecting us against loss of medical which could come as early as our next exam when we least expect it.

 

Yes own occupation to get the benefit. Meaning, no medical and you get it. Want to do something that doesn’t utilize an FAA medical and you work for free. It’s terrible. Much batter than our old LTD which required you to be actually disabled not just FAA uncertifiable after to years.

 

My understanding is that "own-occupation" means that only wages earned as a pilot would count against the LTD payment.

So...you guys don't have "own-occupation" LTD then?

 

Is that what they tell you at PSA “own occupation” is? Not even accurate to what “own occupation” LTD is.

Most LTD plans do not consider you disabled if you can find other work, even working at McDonalds. Own Occupation protects you if you lose your medical, and you can’t fly, you are then considered disabled. Doesn’t matter if you can flip burgers at McDonalds

Own occupation means the essential functions the Pilot regularly performs that provide the Pilot's primary source of income at the time of disability.