Petition - HL 162 (1)

Phase II – Update:

Update with petition effort to win a meeting with senior management: 

It seems as though a recent article carried by the AJC written by Kelly Yamanouchi about Captain Cal Flanagan’s amazing career (http://www.ajc.com/ap/ap/georgia/longest-serving-delta-pilot-lands-his-final-flight/nWmtF/ ), has spurred a letter to the editor by Rob Moser.  The following is the draft of the yet-to-be published letter:

 

Subject:Your story about Cal Flanigan's career

Hello Kelly,

 My name is Robert Moser, and I had the pleasure of reading the article that your wrote in the business section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on March 9th about Captain Cal Flanigan. It was very well written and captured the essence of his multi faceted career as both a mechanic and a pilot who wore numerous "hats" during his 45 year career at Delta.

 Cal was one of a handful of pilots who began his career as a non-pilot. I am also one of those Delta family members who, through hard work and determination, was also able to cross the bridge from a ground career to the dream position of becoming a pilot for one of the finest airlines in the world.

 I had the privilege of working for and with Cal during his career at Delta, and concur that he was, without a doubt, the epitome of a true Delta professional, both as a mechanic, a pilot, and as a Chief Pilot. He was able to wear both a management hat and a pilot's hat, which is never an easy position due to the sometimes differing priorities of the two groups. He earned the respect and loyalty of all of the pilot group. I consider it an honor to have worked with Cal.

 However, the closing chapter of the career of Captain Flanigan and 3500 pilot retirees and their families have very different endings, and I would like to share them with you.

 

I am, almost to the day, 1 year older than Cal. I turned 66 on March 10th. When Delta was on its downhill slide towards bankruptcy in 2005, as a result of the 9-11 tragedy, many of the Delta pilots found themselves in a very confused and no-win situation as we were approaching the extremely difficult decision of taking early retirement or waiting to see whether Delta would actually declare bankruptcy, as had already happened at United, USAir, and Continental, Eastern, Braniff, PanAm,and TWA. One of the first declarations in bankruptcy court by United, Continental, and USAir, was to terminate their pilot's retirement benefits and shift those retirement plans to the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, a quasi government agency, that uses TAXPAYERS DOLLARS to pay a small percentage of what the pilots had worked for over their many years of dedicated service to their respective airlines. Retirement dollars are not a gift: they are DEFERRED INCOME dollars that have been earned in anticipation of those years when we’re  required by federal law, to retire at the age of 60.

As we,  the older pilots at Delta, watched what was happening to our fellow pilots at United, Continental, and USAir,who had declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, we realized that if those airline managements could shed the responsibility of their pilot pension obligations, so could Delta. We also realized that it was entirely possible that instead of declaring a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Delta could, if worst came to worst, declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and go out of business, as had happened at PanAm, Eastern, Braniff, and TWA, and, if that happened, we would receive about 5 to 10 cents on the dollar from the bankruptcy court, IF...IF we were lucky.

Under our pilots working agreement with Delta Air Lines, we had, years earlier, negotiated a "lump sum" agreement whereby some percentage of our retirement would be paid immediately upon our retirement and the remaining percentage would be paid in a monthly annuity. Each airline had a different working agreement with their pilots regarding their retirement rules. American Airlines, for example, paid the entire retirement amount on the day of retirement. Some airlines paid no "lump sum" payment and therefore paid the monthly annuity each month for the rest of the pilot's life.

Most of the airline pilot retirement pensions were computed using a 60 percent final average earnings wherein the final 3 years of earnings would determine the 60 percent retirement monthly annuity pension.

Many of the "older" Delta pilots feared that Delta would not only cancel the annuity, but the lump sum as well, because it was paid directly from the company treasury. We had also found out the corrupt senior management running Delta at that time had already scooped out a significant amount (63 million dollars) from the company treasury, and had planned their well-timed exit, to protect the senior officers in the "event of a bankruptcy filing" by Delta. Surprise, surprise.

When Delta filed for bankruptcy on September 14th 2005 in the bankruptcy court of New York, another major airline, Northwest Airlines, was also filing for bankruptcy on the same day in the same courthouse, at exactly the same time. Interesting coincidence, wouldn't you say?

The first motion that Delta management filed was a "distress termination of the pilot pension program". It was immediately granted by the bankruptcy judge. That terminated the lump sums and the monthly payments.

The first statement that the Northwest management team made to their bankruptcy judge was that ALL pensions for the retirees would remain unchanged because "it was the right thing to do".

NO OTHER PENSIONS OF ANY OTHER DELTA RETIREES OTHER THAN THE DELTA PILOTS WERE CANCELLED.

Yes, those pilots who retired before the bankruptcy filing received "lump sums". According to Delta, these lump sums were the equivalent of 1/2 of our retirement pensions. Poppycock!  Based on actuarial tables of longevity, the lump sum may.............may.... have been the equivalent of 30 per cent of our earned retirement pensions.

There were "behind the scenes" negotiations that the day-to-day working pilot did not have any knowledge of. Our pilots union, the Air Line Pilots Association, negotiated a settlement with Delta management that basically gave the union and the company a blank check to destroy the EARNED RETIREMENT of the retired pilots. We no longer had any voice in this decision since we were retired and no longer dues paying members of the Air Line Pilots Association. During our careers the average pilot with 30 years had paid association dues well in excess of 40 thousand dollars to make sure that our incomes, both while working and when were retired, were in alignment with airline industry standards.

Some of the "older" pilots between the ages of 50 to 58 decided to stay because they were counting on President George Bush to sign into law the pending federal law that increased the retirement age from 60 to 65. President Bush had many pilot friends from his Air National Guard days as a pilot who were now airline pilots and were hounding him to help get the federal law changed. Had I decided to NOT retire in 2005, I would have NOT been able to fly past 60, because the law changed in December 2007, when I was already 60. The same held true for many of my classmates who were the same age, give or take a few months. In Cal's case, he decided to take the risk, and he won. The law changed a few months before he turned 60, and he was able to fly for 5 more years, at top salary, continuing to build his 401k/ Roth IRA, and as a result he should enjoy a very economically secure retirement.  I am very happy for him. Unfortunately, that is not the case with me or with the 3500 fellow retirees.

When the pension stopped, many of us scrambled to find ANY kind of work in aviation and in those cases when we were successful, we found ourselves living outside the United States, away from our families for long periods of time, for much reduced salaries, just trying to make a living. In my case, I commuted to India, then Turkey, then Bahrain, and now Korea.  My workdays are long, my commute is 15 hours each way, and I subject my body to 14 time zones every three weeks. And, I am better off than most of the 3500 retirees because I am still working and earning a few dollars.

The "Old Old" pilot retirees, who retired in the 1980's 1990's and the early 2000's have been only slightly affected by the bankruptcy filing. In most cases their retirement checks have taken a hit of 5 to 10 per cent. That has not been the case with approximately 3500 pilots and their families where the pilot retired after 2002. The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation has a "magic" formula for computing the percentages that the retirees receive and it can vary from as much as 5000 dollars per month to ZERO dollars per month.

These 3500 pilots and their families have been treated as outcasts and literally thrown under the bus by Delta's senior management. What management did to these pilots is legal, according to the bankruptcy court. However it is immoral and unjust. Delta is a company that has always been focused on its employees as well as its passengers. I, as one of these 3500 pilots and our families, started a petition to try and rectify this injustice. The petition was printed and delivered several weeks ago to Richard Anderson, Delta CEO, Ed Bastain, Delta president, as well as all of the Board Of Directors at Delta Airlines. As of today, we have received neither an acknowledgement nor a response to our petition.

I respectfully request that you read the petition, as well as the comments and signatures attached to it. The petition can be read at www.thepetitionsite.com/627/208/216. The petition, in its entirety, was hard copied and printed and delivered via Federal Express to all persons who could correct this injustice.

I have lived in or near Atlanta for 47 years and during that time I have been a faithful reader of the AJC. It has only been in the past few years that your newspaper has been willing to write articles that could affect your advertising income. It was extremely rare in years past to read anything negative or controversial about Delta, Coca Cola, Home Depot, or any other hometown company.

I would hope that this is no longer the case and that a story that might have some controversy would still receive fair and equitable review and scrutiny by your newspaper.

Let me assure you that a considerable amount of time and energy has gone into the writing of the petition, as well as gathering the necessary financial information to show how these 3500 pilots and their families have been mistreated by a company that prides itself on "honesty, integrity, and mutual respect", words spoken by Delta Air Lines founder, Mr. C.E. Woolman. Our current CEO prides himself on sitting behind Mr. Woolman's desk and using these words during his "welcome aboard" greeting to our millions of loyal customers. I find Richard's comments quite hollow when I fly on Delta and listen to his quotes from Mr. Woolman.

Richard Anderson has written very specific guidelines that are posted on the Delta Employee's website as to company philosophy, business and personal conduct and a very specific closing statement: These are called Richard's RULE OF THE ROAD, and I quote  from his closing statement:

             " DELTA PEOPLE OF TODAY STAND ON THE SHOULDERS OF THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE US.  THE SUCCESSES WE HAVE  ACHIEVED IN THE PAST, AND WHATEVER WE MAY ENJOY IN THE FUTURE, DEPEND ON THE STRONG DESIRE AND  MOTIVATION OF OUR PEOPLE TO PROTECT AND PRESERVE THE CULTURE OF THIS GREAT COMPANY"

There are 3500 pilots and their families who would love to believe that these words are meant for ALL of the retirees, but we do not. Apparently management has chosen to be very selective as to whose shoulders the Delta people of today stand on. Certainly not on the shoulders of the 3500 mistreated pilot retirees.

Richard Anderson was the former CEO of Northwest and I would surmise that many of the bankruptcy decisions that were presented to the bankruptcy court were determined when he was the CEO.  Now that Northwest has become part of the Delta family, ALL OF THE NORTHWEST RETIREES, INCLUDING THEIR RETIRED PILOTS, RECEIVE THEIR FULL PENSIONS.

If Delta had folded, this would all be a moot point, but Delta did not die. And we, the 3500, are not dead. We, like all Delta pilot retirees, and there are approximately 8000 of us, die at the rate of 1 or 2 per day, sometimes more. Our retirement dollars are a daily decreasing amount for Delta Air Lines. We would like to think that we, who have fallen through the cracks, could be included in the economic healing process that this company has experienced. We, the 3500, worked our entire careers to help make Delta the best airline in the world. We think it is time for management to right this wrong. We are not asking for any "special" consideration. We are only asking for our EARNED PENSIONS to be reinstated, and stop the economic suffering that has affected many of our retirees and their families.

Because I receive only pennies on the dollar from the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, paid for by TAXPAYER DOLLARS, I commute every three weeks to Korea to work as a flight instructor for Korean Air Lines. I will be in Atlanta until March 21, when I return to Korea.

If you wish to gather more information, or if I or any of my fellow pilots can answer any questions that you might have, you may contact me at rmoser47@gmail.com, or 404.702.6837.

 

I began my career at Delta in December 1972 and retired in December 2005.

 

Sincerely,

 

Robert D. Moser

 

Retired International Captain Boeing 777

Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Atlanta GA.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I cannot thank you all enough for your wise and valuable help. I'm not just blowing smoke, here. This just wouldn't have been nearly as refined without your help, so please take some pride in that and in how compelling our effort has become. One day maybe we can all raise a glass together.    Thanks again,  Mark

 

The Petition has been compiled and delivered to our targets but it will remain open for anyone to read, see and sign.  Feel free to point or visit the site:

Three quick comments:
1. There WAS an unfair injustice! Some have asked for some proof of
the harm that DAL Retired Pilots incurred so click here to see it
first hand: http://the3500.homestead.com/Proof_of_Harm.pdf

2. Will this work? Capt Moser is using the petition as the first step
in a multi faceted strategy to gain a meeting to discuss these
issues. Admittedly it is a long shot. Since the cause is just and
doing right is always good, why not give him our support?

3. Is my info safe? Absolutely!

Note: Use different computers for other family members.

RE: Petition supporting Delta Retired Pilots and a remedy for lost
benefits.

SIGN THIS PETITION TODAY!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/627/208/216/

ALL Petition ISSUES or QUESTIONS Click here: http://pcn.homestead.com/PetitionFAQs.html

SHARE THIS NOTICE WITH OTHERS!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Full post disclaimer in left column. PCN Home Page is located at: http://pcn.homestead.com/home01.html