Catherwood LibraryILR School

Five months after agreeing to a twenty-six percent reduction in pay and benefits to keep their employer flying (see WIT for Aug. 9, 2002), members of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) at US Airways are facing the loss of most of their remaining pension benefits as the federal agency that insures pensions prepares to take over the underfunded plan. US Airways, the ALPA and Senators with constituencies that stand to lose the most have pushed the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. and Congress to make an exception to the seven-year limit on repayment of pension fund shortfalls, and give the bankrupt carrier thirty years---increasing risks of future instability to continue paying benefits already earned. The PBGC, however, has made it clear that it lacks the authority to make an exception, and legislation in the Senate aimed at creating an exception has been delayed following pressure from other airlines opposed to special treatment for a competitor.