The sad stories of all these retired or nearly retired airline employees seeing their pensions evaporate is almost unreal. What surprises me most is the link between these chapter 11 airlines and the pension funds of their employees. In the company I fly for, both the employee and the company deposit a pension fund contribution on a monthly basis. The pension fund that is created this way is managed independently by a major financial organization. A dedicated group of democratically elected pilots and the secretary of the pension fund have a limited say in how the pension fund is managed. This is usually done in a conservative manner and the financial organization actually guarantees a pension pay out at the end of a 31 year career of 70% of your median income, adjusted for inflation. The financial organization is fully re-insured should any problems arise there. Despite their contributions, the employer - by law - can never exert any influence over the funds. Once a contribution is made it is out of their reach.
What exactly has gone wrong in the US?
Are laws or pension plans being adjusted as a result of the present short falls?