UAL pensions saved...!?

[Hutchman]

Hutch,

I was at the FBO of my local airport yesterday and something happened that might surprise you. A pilot that retired from UAL in 2004 was at the airport in his brand new Cirrus SR22. He had just moved to the city I live in, bought a house on the water and needed an airplane to go see the grandkids. I had never met him before but overheard him mention UAL and his retirement. I talked with him awhile and believe it or not he seemed very happy.

He had a big B-fund and other investments that took care of him. If you are ERJ guy and your father is retired. Perhaps it is the lifestyle or bad choices he made that put him in a different boat than this other retiree.

Some pilots worked at UAL for a considerable ammount of time. I am sure this pilot was a long time employee of UAL. In the early 70's people were getting hired with only a SEL commercial with less than 400 hours. UAL was training them for thier multi. These pilots were captains since '85. They made lots of dough over the years. Some UAL retired pilots actually came from other airlines like EAL and Pan Am. Others spent 6 years on furlough if they were hired in '79. My point is each pilot has a very different background. Some have made alot of money and others have made conserderably less. If you got out early, your PBGC ben. is significantly less than if you were 60. I think the 60 guys get about 32k. No one will give pitty to a retired pilot that lives on the beach with a huge boat. The fact that the company will not fullfill it's promises is wrong.

We will never have this problem. Pensions are gone or soon will be. We know we have to save. It is very different than getting the rug pulled out from underneath you AFTER you have already retired.

Where do you live? This guy might of been forced to sell his real house on the ocean (which has increased 10x in the last 5 years) and downsize to a lake. He might have made so much off the house that he bought a new plane. Just a thought.