FoxHunter
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- Jan 4, 2002
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Agenda Item #15 (to be presented at the 94th ALPA Executive Board Meeting, September 14-16, 2004 by the MEA MEC):
SUBJECT: Age 60 Education Campaign
SOURCE: MEA MEC
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The financial crisis in the airline industry has created a significant burden on tens of thousands of ALPA pilots’ retirement funds through decreased earnings and plan changes and terminations. This is in addition to the immediate impact of furloughs and downgrades. More and more pilots are becoming concerned that they may be forced to work beyond age 60 as a result of diminished retirement funds combined with the rising cost of retiree medical due to the gap between the mandatory retirement age and the age at which the pilot becomes eligible for social Security and Medicare benefits.
Arguments have been posed among the membership both in favor and against the mandatory retirement age that includes as much speculation as they do emotion….
PROPOSED RESOLUTION:
WHEREAS the current financial crisis in the airline industry has caused tens of thousands of ALPA pilots to experience a dramatic and permanent reduction in their career earnings through furloughs, pay cuts, displacements, and reduced promotion and job opportunities, and
WHEREAS a significant proportion of ALPA’s membership has also experienced an erosion in their projected retirement earnings through a variety of factors, including the dramatic and permanent reduction in their career earnings; lower-than-expected investment returns due to declines in the equity markets, and increasing pressure on defined benefits plans, including reductions in benefits, the freezing of future benefit accruals, or the termination of these plans, and
WHEREAS many ALPA pilot groups have not been able to successfully bargain for defined benefit plans, and
WHEREAS the negotiating environment is not favorable to addressing these issues in the near future, and
WHEREAS the cost of retiree medical insurance has increased dramatically over the years, and
WHEREAS airline pilots in the U.S. are required to retire at age 60, and
WHEREAS ALPA policy is to endorse mandatory retirement at age 60, and
WHEREAS there is a significant between the mandatory retirement age for pilots in the U.S. and the age at which many pilots are eligible to receive Social Security and Medicare Benefits, and
WHEREAS the current White House Administration has not been amendable to addressing these issues, and
WHEREAS an increasing number of ALPA pilots are concerned that they may be compelled to work either in other professions or as pilots outside the U.S. beyond the current U.S. mandatory retirement age due to a reduction in their career earnings, retirement earnings, and/or to bridge their income and medical benefits to Medicare and Social Security, and
WHEREAS the Age 60 Rule is a safety rule established the FAA in 1959, and…
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the President is hereby directed to initiate a thorough communications effort to educate the U.S. ALPA membership regarding the rationale for the existence of the Age 60 Rule and the possible implications of increasing the mandatory retirement age, including the impact on career earnings, retirement earnings, defined benefit plan provisions and funding, pilot medical certification standards, and air safety, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this communications effort shall include a poll of the U.S. ALPA membership regarding mandatory retirement age issues, including their views regarding ALPA’s Age 60 policy, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President is also directed to report on the status of this initiative to the May 2005 Executive Board.
SUBJECT: Age 60 Education Campaign
SOURCE: MEA MEC
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The financial crisis in the airline industry has created a significant burden on tens of thousands of ALPA pilots’ retirement funds through decreased earnings and plan changes and terminations. This is in addition to the immediate impact of furloughs and downgrades. More and more pilots are becoming concerned that they may be forced to work beyond age 60 as a result of diminished retirement funds combined with the rising cost of retiree medical due to the gap between the mandatory retirement age and the age at which the pilot becomes eligible for social Security and Medicare benefits.
Arguments have been posed among the membership both in favor and against the mandatory retirement age that includes as much speculation as they do emotion….
PROPOSED RESOLUTION:
WHEREAS the current financial crisis in the airline industry has caused tens of thousands of ALPA pilots to experience a dramatic and permanent reduction in their career earnings through furloughs, pay cuts, displacements, and reduced promotion and job opportunities, and
WHEREAS a significant proportion of ALPA’s membership has also experienced an erosion in their projected retirement earnings through a variety of factors, including the dramatic and permanent reduction in their career earnings; lower-than-expected investment returns due to declines in the equity markets, and increasing pressure on defined benefits plans, including reductions in benefits, the freezing of future benefit accruals, or the termination of these plans, and
WHEREAS many ALPA pilot groups have not been able to successfully bargain for defined benefit plans, and
WHEREAS the negotiating environment is not favorable to addressing these issues in the near future, and
WHEREAS the cost of retiree medical insurance has increased dramatically over the years, and
WHEREAS airline pilots in the U.S. are required to retire at age 60, and
WHEREAS ALPA policy is to endorse mandatory retirement at age 60, and
WHEREAS there is a significant between the mandatory retirement age for pilots in the U.S. and the age at which many pilots are eligible to receive Social Security and Medicare Benefits, and
WHEREAS the current White House Administration has not been amendable to addressing these issues, and
WHEREAS an increasing number of ALPA pilots are concerned that they may be compelled to work either in other professions or as pilots outside the U.S. beyond the current U.S. mandatory retirement age due to a reduction in their career earnings, retirement earnings, and/or to bridge their income and medical benefits to Medicare and Social Security, and
WHEREAS the Age 60 Rule is a safety rule established the FAA in 1959, and…
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the President is hereby directed to initiate a thorough communications effort to educate the U.S. ALPA membership regarding the rationale for the existence of the Age 60 Rule and the possible implications of increasing the mandatory retirement age, including the impact on career earnings, retirement earnings, defined benefit plan provisions and funding, pilot medical certification standards, and air safety, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this communications effort shall include a poll of the U.S. ALPA membership regarding mandatory retirement age issues, including their views regarding ALPA’s Age 60 policy, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the President is also directed to report on the status of this initiative to the May 2005 Executive Board.
TC
