DL guy here. We have a huge debate going on over retirement restoration/improvement. Lots of our older guys who lost their pensions in bankruptcy want some sort of restoration or defined benefit. Our union has been throwing out all sorts of ideas such as Minimum Benefit plans. Is this something you guys have been focused on too? It seems to be a major point of contention between different generations of Delta pilots and the Union.

 

Lost your pensions? I thought it was frozen, not lost?

Might want to rephrase that for a UAL forum. We had ours,(LUAL,) stolen by the PBGC, courts, and Glenn.

To answer your question, yes, I believe our negotiating committee has had direction to see what can be done in negotiations. But, it will be very problematic as LCO had theirs frozen, so they still have an A plan. LUAL does not. So, negotiating for just one side would not go over well.

Yes they are trying to come up with something. As we get more new hires, that may affect the equation. What? No idea.

 

I have been told that ours is focusing on an annuity type of product that will bridge the gap between age 65 and 70 so that you can delay taking social security but still have money coming in.

 

I have heard that as well. Hope it's true, would be excellent.

Looking forward to both social security and PBGC payments.....not. Maybe.

 

We have the same situation re DL/NWA. Some have frozen with no COLA..(NWA) and some have PBGC with no COLA..(DL)They have come up with a plan to address it. It's a table position

 

A 5 year maturity of annuity of 200000 dollars
After the government just approved annuities for retirements
Will be 3700 per month for each pilot as they hit 65 years old
It’s 2.5% interest paid by the insurance company for 5 year to have your money, inflation basically. At 70 years old the pilot will be getting the same money if not more by delaying social security and will be on the same income.

If the average is 600 retirements per year the company will have to pay 600 X 200000 to an insurance company each year for each pilot hitting 65. Call it an exit bonus or paying for your sick time
That is 120 million per year and that is 3,75% out of their annual projected profits
Peanuts and fair for all however I would want to see the 16% to go to 18% as well and I can see the after merger pilots to vote for it.
By the way this will not affect the CAL pilots frozen fund or the PBGC recipients

 

This is the kind of thing our (DAL) union seems to be focusing on too. I guess they are on the same page then. I was just curious to see if you guys had any drastically different proposals out there.

 

As much as it’s needed here, I don’t see it happening.

On the one hand, we are much more fractionalized here ( pre- merger sores), than you guys at DL/NW.

As was pointed out by Buck Rogers, the two former plans left the respective pilots with widely different outcomes, PBGC payments vs. frozen lump sums.

I don’t see the possibility to financially re-write history through some complex make up plan that puts the two former legacy pilots on equal footing at 65. Anything short of that will be killed by the still angry “get even bunch”.

Hell, the LCAL pilots can’t even get the union to press the company to return our LTD premium overpayments (to LCAL only), which is only a few thousand dollars.

On the other hand, there are thousands of post A plan hired on both sides who do not see this as their problem, and don’t want negotiation capital spent on a bunch of old farts that have never seen a furlough.

The cost of such a make up plan would be expensive and you can bet the company would be happy to exploit the fractious factions.

I’d definitely like to see that make up. I’m one of those old farts who will come up around .9 mill short at 65.

However, I’m still on wife #1, live in my F/O house, and have only two of five kids still in college when I hit 65, next winter. So, no double wide, tuna on crackers for me.

And to the OP, we haven’t seen any sort of proposal on retirement yet.

 

I don’t see your issue with a double wide......that would be IAD.....longest double wide ever.

And, I like tuna on crackers😁

Lee

 

those old guys are so greedy.