So you work for an airline. Chances are you may be getting somewhat air sick, what with the cutbacks, layoffs, givebacks, bankruptcies, speedups, slowdowns, mergers, bomb plots and general chaos of the industry. And after a rough day confronting irate passengers, maintenance snafus, weather delays and rebooking nightmares, you get a notice or see on the news that your pension may be “amended.” Airline workers are angry, and with good reason. It’s challenging enough working in a fast-changing industry, but to fly into a pension-and-benefit storm at the end of the day is just too much.

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American Airlines finished the month of May at an apparent impasse with its pilots union, rejecting the latter’s proposal that included salary as well as pension and benefits increases.  Company executives pointed to weakened financial conditions throughout the airline industry, while the pilots questioned the credibility of American’s management team.

Meanwhile, industry analysts predicted that should, current trends in fuel prices persist through 2009, the result could be more airline bankruptcies and liquidations Most U.S. airlines are scrambling to cut operating costs, including eliminating flights, adding fees, and charging for meals.   Eight carriers declared Chapter 11 in April and May.

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“Would it be easy to walk away from debt?  Yes.  But as a manager of this business, as people who take on obligations to those stakeholders, we don’t think that’s the appropriate way to think about those kinds of tactics.”

Beverly Goulet,American Airlines, Vice President of Corporate Development, May 30, 2008.

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1. So you work for an airline...
2. How are airline pensions structured?
3. Will your retirement be a smooth landing?
4. Pension under-funding means rough weather ahead
5. Where do I go to find out about my pension?
6. Contact info for airline companies