Pilot Pension Woes
I'm certainly not one to take any delight in another’s misfortunes but the current pilot pension issue was totally predictable and has being for many years. Basic and simple fact of life: If you work for an employer who chronically looses money in an industry that does the same don't expect them to be able to pony up on obligations down the road. It is just foolish to think that companies that are not making money will suddenly find a pot of gold down the road to pay out past obligations. The US airline industry has never made any real money since it has being deregulated, so where were they going to get money to pay pensions?
The unions easily could have given up wage increases over the years and insisted instead that real cash be diverted into separate funded pension funds. They preferred to bury their heads in the sand and pretend the balls can be kept in the air. I know pilots who decided years back that the payouts they had being promised were unlikely and planned accordingly.
This is not to excuse the idiot managers and the spineless boards of directors that hired certain CEO’s to send them on their way 18 months later with XX millions. However the current situation has being in the making for decades and for a group like the pilots to be surprised about this does not say much for them as a group.