Profit Sharing payout schedule
 

Anyone know the date of the payout?

The page on flying together says something like the "last pay cycle for the February..."

It used to be on Valentine's day. This year that is Sunday.

March 1st it was in an MEC email.

Those pesky UALMEC emails have a lot of good info in them.

Loved the reasoning for delaying it until the 1st, a full 17 days later.

Supposedly for more proper accounting, puleeze. More like for the interest we'll be collecting on all that jack.

Or you can go to the MEC website and use the search button where you'll find everything neatly organized into a functional and useful archive.

The MEC claimed that the payout will be on the March 1st check because the pilots that put 100% of their share into their B-Fund were complaining because they were not seeing 100% of it going into the B-Fund. They failed to recognize that the Medicare tax liability can't be sheltered and must be paid. So in order to actually see 100% going into the B-Fund, The Braintrust at ALPA decided to allow the company to pay out the profit sharing on the March 1st paycheck so the Medicare Tax can be paid out of earnings payable March 1st. I do not agree with their line of reasoning and want the profit sharing to go back to full payout before valentines' day and let the other pilots do the math and figure out why only 95% (or whatever it is) goes into the B_fund and the remaining is Medicare (or whatever tax it is). Having said all that, it is very wise to put the profit sharing in the B-fund because you are saving 25% of Federal income tax

And if you are making what most people are making you are really not saving 25% because you should already be maxing out your 401k so you are paying the tax on the back end, unless your doing the Roth then it really doesn't matter.

ALPA did not allow the company to change the date. We have a contractual right to profit sharing, but nothing says they will pay it out on Valentines day.

The difference in the tax effect of single payout vs combined with additional pay is not the justification for the change but the result.

Want people to be forewarned that by choosing 100% they could be wiping out their paycheck.

Company rationale for changing the date is that off cycle paychecks cost them a substantial amount of money.

They save by combining.

Not sure that was the gist of the letter that the MEC put out. I will go back to old emails and check it out.

Ok, here's a cut and paste of the MEC's letter:
Profit Sharing 401k Elections
In prior years, profit sharing payments were made by a separate check rather than being included in the regular paycheck. That meant that pilots who elected 100% of their profit sharing payment to go into the 401k did not actually see all of their profit sharing payment go into the PRAP. This was because amounts contributed to the PRAP under 401k elections, though not subject to income tax, are subject to FICA tax. The company had to hold back enough of the profit sharing payment to cover the FICA tax on the 401(k) contribution, and the amount held back to cover FICA withholding was itself subject to Federal, State, and local income taxes, so the hold back had to be increased to cover those taxes as well.

This year, profit sharing will be included in your regular 3/1/2016 paycheck. As a result, if you elect 100% of your profit sharing payment to go into the PRAP, you will actually get 100% of your profit sharing payment into the PRAP. But you will still owe the FICA taxes on that contribution so, instead of being held out of the profit sharing payment as in the past, those taxes will come out of your regular pay. In other words, if you elect 100% of your profit sharing payment to go to the PRAP this year, your regular March 1 take-home pay will be reduced.

To avoid decreasing your 3/1/2016 take home pay, the company is recommending that pilots elect no more than 65% of their profit sharing payment go into the PRAP.