United Pilots Lose Fight to Keep Pension Alive

September 28, 2005 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A bankruptcy judge has decided that the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) can take over the United Air Lines pension plan for pilots as of December 30, 2004.

The Denver Post reports that the PBGC said in December that taking over the plan at that time would help UAL continue funding its other retirement plans.  

The United Retired Pilots Benefit Protection Association (URPBPA) and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) argued that the PBGC should have to honor its earlier agreement for the plan termination to be effective June 2005.

Last week the US Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied the PBGC’s motion for an order approving its involuntary termination of United’s plan for pilots, saying objections from pilots’ unions meant the agency would have to take its motion to federal court (See  Court Denies Termination of United Pilot’s Pension Plan ).

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