When can AirTran dump ALPA?

[FlyinGuy]

My guess it that ALPA will stay on AT property until the DRC is completed. If I understand the DRC paperwork properly, it will be SWAPA going to SWA if there is a ruling in favor of AT. That should be interesting. As far as remedies, there are a number of possibilities. One thing that is not possible is a reshuffle of the list.

 

[tomgoodman]

Moustaches are for Motorcycle Cops and the Village People.

Hey, what about us?

http://www.buzzpatrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/walrus.jpg

 

[Dan Roman]

Complete thread creep...

Just a quick thought on this...one of the major factors that was used in the study that everyone talks about was participation rate and contribution amounts. Since we pilots have our own 401k plan, and nearly all pilots contribute at least 10% in order to get the company match, this artificially drives that factor of the study way up in the comparisons. I'm not saying it isn't a decent plan, but it's not god's gift to retirement accounts that some would make it out to be.

This is a good point. Most ALPA legacies actually have a higher contribution percentage than SWA's. Our DC is 15% from day one and does not require pilot input for any matching, it's 15% no matter what the pilot puts in. Red, you are buying hook line and sinker into your propaganda piece about how wonderful your 401k is, but that masks the fact that the company contributes less to your plan than other carriers do.

 

[jonjuan]

Moustaches are for Motorcycle Cops and the Village People.

And Magnum PI

 

[madjack]

"it's 15% no matter what the pilot puts in"

I wish we had that at SWA!

 

[redflyer65]

This is a good point. Most ALPA legacies actually have a higher contribution percentage than SWA's. Our DC is 15% from day one and does not require pilot input for any matching, it's 15% no matter what the pilot puts in. Red, you are buying hook line and sinker into your propaganda piece about how wonderful your 401k is, but that masks the fact that the company contributes less to your plan than other carriers do.

Thanks for your post Dan. I have no delusions that SWAPA is perfect. Do we need a better match? Absolutely. There are areas and things that need to be perfected. I agree.

But the product that the SWAPA 401k committee (not SW the company) has put together is better than not only other airlines, but up there with choices from all the largest US companies.

It's a combination of high participation rate (as stated earlier) and outstanding choices on WHERE to invest our monies. Our in-house 401k committee vets each mutual fund frequently. There are many that want to get on the list yearly...but don't make it. We have in-house aged based choices...then on top of that we have the ability to trade in the open market with pretty much any ETF, Stock and/or outside mutual funds. This overall flexibility is far and beyond what most companies allow their employees to invest in. See the big picture now Dan? And yes, I credit our union with knocking this out of the park. If you think that's 'hook line and sinker' then you're entitled to your opinion.

 

[Dan Roman]

Thanks for your post Dan. I have no delusions that SWAPA is perfect. Do we need a better match? Absolutely. There are areas and things that need to be perfected. I agree.

But the product that the SWAPA 401k committee (not SW the company) has put together is better than not only other airlines, but up there with choices from all the largest US companies.

It's a combination of high participation rate (as stated earlier) and outstanding choices on WHERE to invest our monies. Our in-house 401k committee vets each mutual fund frequently. There are many that want to get on the list yearly...but don't make it. We have in-house aged based choices...then on top of that we have the ability to trade in the open market with pretty much any ETF, Stock and/or outside mutual funds. This overall flexibility is far and beyond what most companies allow their employees to invest in. See the big picture now Dan? And yes, I credit our union with knocking this out of the park. If you think that's 'hook line and sinker' then you're entitled to your opinion.

Well, you can certainly make the case that giving pilots too many choices is an invitation for lower returns!
I'm not attacking you dude, just pointing out the fact that SWA lags in retirement benefits.

 

[redflyer65]

Well, you can certainly make the case that giving pilots too many choices is an invitation for lower returns!
I'm not attacking you dude, just pointing out the fact that SWA lags in retirement benefits.

No worries Dan. I agree we need to raise our match, the other stuff is above par.

PS- I've worked at companies that gave you five mutual funds to chose from...five. No other option. More options are better.

 

[dalad]

Thanks for your post Dan. I have no delusions that SWAPA is perfect. Do we need a better match? Absolutely. There are areas and things that need to be perfected. I agree.

But the product that the SWAPA 401k committee (not SW the company) has put together is better than not only other airlines, but up there with choices from all the largest US companies.

It's a combination of high participation rate (as stated earlier) and outstanding choices on WHERE to invest our monies. Our in-house 401k committee vets each mutual fund frequently. There are many that want to get on the list yearly...but don't make it. We have in-house aged based choices...then on top of that we have the ability to trade in the open market with pretty much any ETF, Stock and/or outside mutual funds. This overall flexibility is far and beyond what most companies allow their employees to invest in. See the big picture now Dan? And yes, I credit our union with knocking this out of the park. If you think that's 'hook line and sinker' then you're entitled to your opinion.

We have our own ability to invest as we want at DAL with a Brokerage link option. I trade the VIX futures through my company account, short UVXY and long SVXY. Pull up a 2 year chart on UVXY and see why it's a shorts dream. It has helped me grow my DC plan from just pver 150k to well over 600k today. I buy the puts on it whenever it spikes.

 

[burg]

Our pilots are grossly uninformed as to b-funds..

And swapa has not tried to fix it.

Including a b-fund the total
compensation package raise has to be a 21% or we are
Screwd,,,,