Delta Will Terminate Pilots' Pension Plan

Delta Air Lines, which has lost more than $14 billion in the past five years, will file a request Monday to terminate its pilots' pension plan effective Sept. 2, CEO Gerald Grinstein said in a letter to more than a dozen members of the U.S. Congress. While the move was not unexpected, Delta says it's necessary to preserve jobs and notes that it still wants Congress to pass pension reform legislation in hopes of preserving the pension plan for other employees. But Grinstein wrote in the letter that even if such a pension reform bill containing airline relief passes, unless the pilot plan is terminated, Delta couldn't successfully restructure and emerge from bankruptcy. Once the notice is made to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. on Monday, and then Delta will seek approval by a judge. Objections are possible, but the pilots have agreed in negotiations not to object.