Helpful miscellaneous articles
regarding our retirement plan and planning.
Like you, I review my retirement nestegg and plan from time to
time. Recently, I went though some
continued education for some credentials I maintain and it occurred to me that
we all could use a review about these issues.
So with your help, we will share and post articles and info that may be
helpful and of interest to many of you in this section.
Survivor
Benefits -- PLEASE INFORM SPOUSE AND
FAMILY SO THAT AN EARNED BENEFIT DOES NOT STAY UNKNOWN!
The
PCNI highlight’s survivor benefits frequently in the High Life and on our
website. Please keep your spouse and
family aware of this earned benefit held in trust to payout upon your
death.
Handy PCN page designed specifically for
Survivors to share resources, checklists and information:
http://pcn.homestead.com/DLSurv.htm
Dear
PCN know that if we receive a DEATH NOTICE to share on the PCN’s FLOWN WEST
page that we also CC the ESC and other Delta offices so there should be no
excuse that they “know” about the former retired pilot’s death. We have
practiced this policy for years.
See
also the below recent email string from the ORD pilot retirees concerning this
important topic:
Dear ORD Delta Pilots...and all Delta Pilots.
When I sent out the information about the
passing of ORD Delta Pilot Capt Charlie Rand, a fantastic guy to fly
with, Capt Bob Hartl sent this to me:
"Dave,
Many widows do not know about the Delta
Survivors Fund that gives wives of deceased pilots a portion of their final
earnings. Charlie Rand's wife may not be aware of such a fund.
Charlie's wife is covered by that fund.
Bob Hartl"
I sent it on to Capt John Fitzpatrick who's
wife Linda is good friends of Charlie's wife Susan. They got a hold of
Susan and this is what John sent back to me:
"I just called Susan. She had no idea
about the fund. She is going to call me with Charlie'semployee number this
afternoon and I will call Delta for her and get the ball rolling.
John"
Thank you John for following up on
this. John contacted Delta and has the ball rolling on Susan getting
basically what would have been our monthly retirement pay and insurance if
Delta using the disguise of Bankruptcy had not destroyed our retirement.
This is what Bob then said:
"Dave,
Thank you. It
may make a difference in her financial
future.
Bob"
However, Delta is abusing this
fund. Please let Delta ALPA and ALPA and Delta Airlines know that Delta's
abuse of this fund has to stop. If Delta continues using it for
unauthorized payment there will be no monies for your survivors. This is
a benefit that is contractual and that you worked very hard for during your
Delta career. David W. Skjerven
P.S. We have had several of our ORD
Delta Pilots pass away. If you are in contact with the survivors of any
of our fellow pilots that have flown west, please check with them to be sure
they too are getting this contractual benefit. From the sounds of it,
"Mother" Delta does not automatically start these benefits....but
then why does that not surprise me......
++++
Thank you to the many that
responded about Delta Survivors Benefits. Here are copies of some of the
information that was sent back to me about our Survivor Benefits. It is
very clear that the people representing us Delta Pilots in the bankruptcy did
not have our or our families best interest in mind. That is sad....so
much for the Delta Family..... David W. Skjerven
Also some Delta Survivor checklists and
worksheets are attached. Employee Service Center: 800-693-3582
Met Life: 866-939-7409
Here are some of the comments I got:
Unfortunately Dave, the use of our Survivors
trust money for the payment of active pilot sick pay (amongst other corporate
costs)and the reduction in annual trust funding are “authorized” The
changes to that section of the contract were agreed to by our union brothers
during the bankruptcy proceedings. There is little incentive for the company to
fight sick pay abuse when the check is being paid for out of our (or more
correctly our widow’s) pocket.
I’ve told my dal pilot son that because of
the rapidly evaporating Survivor trust the benefit his mom expected to have
after I die will most likely not be there for her….
And the hits just keep on comin’
Mark
There should also be a life insurance benefit
for the widow if he had a Life Insurance Policy with Delta.
None of the second wives would get any of the
pension even if the pilot arranged for his wife to get that. They do not
cover a second wife for pension benefits.
However, a Life Insurance policy would go to
whoever the pilot named as his benficiary on his policy if he had one with
Delta. Just an idea. He may have taken out a Life Insurance Policy
and forgotten about it.
Also, a wife would have to notify them that
her husband is deceased and she would be eligible for continued health benefits
and flight privileges.
You have to get in touch with them for
everything. They won't reach out to you I don't believe.
Sometimes it isn't easy to get in touch with
who you need to talk to.
Linda
Dave,
The survivor benefit is 30% of the pilot’s
FAE. I recently received a calculation I had done by Delta for my wife and it
was $7200 (rounded for this email) per month. When I retired my FAE years where
on the 767-400 and the 777 with a lot of GS so my wife’s benefit is probably on
the higher side. I’m attaching a copy of the letter and you can see the method
they used for the calculation. If I’m reading it correctly the minimum benefit
for her would be $7200 and depending on how the fund is doing higher. Based
on the current value of the fund my wife’s benefit would be about $7795. Of
course I could be misunderstanding the explanation. Anyway it is a pretty good
benefit and not well known.
You can share my numbers if you like but I
would prefer my identity not be shared.
Dave, et al,
Good info. This is the fund that no pilot could opt out
of.
However, it is approaching dire straits.
Delta has put no money in
since 2006. It started with a couple billion
and is now down to about
200,000,000.
Clint
Jim George is an R & I expert who knows
about this. (He was also my roommate at NKP.) This is his reply to my question
about it.
If anyone would like to talk to him, let me
know and I’ll forward his phone number.
Dick
From: Jim
George <jg.a1.f16@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: HEADS UP!!!!!! VERY IMPORTANT INFO!!!
Date: February
19, 2022 at 10:01:09 AM CST
To: Dick
Diller <dick@thedillers.net>
Hi Dick.
What all of you are referring
to is the monthly income benefit from the Delta Disability & Survivorship
Plan. Benefits can be substantial for a "qualifying" spouse.
(Basically, she had to have been married to the pilot while he was actively
flying & remain married until his death after retirement.) Also this
benefit was changed dramatically during BK, for retirement dates o/a 1/1/2008.
You (and your friends) most likely knew about
this (SURVIVORSHIP) benefit when you retired, but my experience, both as a
Financial Consultant and Pilot Rep with RAA, and as the Secretary of the BOD of
DDPSA (Delta Disabled Pilots & Survivors Association) is that this benefit
is commonly forgotten about.
You should visit our Website
at DDPSA.ORG where there is a TON of information about the Plan;
benefits; current funding issues (bad); etc; etc.
Or just call me and I can WAG
Emily's benefit pretty accurately.
Best Regards,
Jim
PS: It's not automatic, for many good
reasons. Our Website has extensive info. *** And, importantly, we NEED
contact info for pilots & spouses, especially as the fund has decreased
steadily and future legal action may be necessary to preserve this one MAJOR
remaining benefit for those of us who took big hits in our retirement benefits
as a result of termination of the retirement plan during Delta's BK.
Street your colleagues to our Website as
well, and let them know they can call me if they have questions after
"doing their homework."
JG
On Sat, Feb 19, 2022, 00:15 Dick Diller <dick@thedillers.net> wrote:
Jim,
Charlie Rand died last week, and Dave, Bob
and John are all retired Chicago Delta pilots. Charlie’s wife was a flight
attendant.
Do you know anything about this? Shouldn’t it
be automatic when a retired pilot dies?
Dick
Yes, I believe the process includes
requesting an application for requesting benefits then submission of death
certificate and certification of marriage license which is a duplication of
paperwork submitted when signed up with Delta as new hires. It can take a
month to get a copy of marriage license from state of marriage.
David,
I have helped a couple of
widows get the survivor benefits. You must apply and here is the
phone number for doing so: Employee
Service Center 800 693-3582. Also there is a death benefit with Met
Life contact them directly at 866 939-7409. Delta will deny the
benefits initially so you must persist. The benefits are retroactive to
the date of death. Former Delta execs wrote a letter to Delta to stop
abusing the fund. Attached are the instructions for filing.
http://pcn.homestead.com/Retiree-Death-Checklist.pdf
++++
We
with the PCN have tried to highlight this Survivor benefit over and over again and
in recent High Life’s and in many past
issues:
Please
refer to other issues (linked below) regarding this subject.
http://pcnhighlife.blogspot.com/2013/10/insurance-hl-185-2.html
http://pcnhighlife.blogspot.com/2013/10/insurance-hl-186-4.html
http://pcnhighlife.blogspot.com/2021/01/insurance-hl-324-1.html
http://pcnhighlife.blogspot.com/2021/11/misc-hl-333-3.html
And
please do not forget out web page dedicated to share info, resources and
checklists for the survivor.
http://pcn.homestead.com/DLSurv.htm
(As with any of these informative articles,
anyone who needs someone to talk to about
this
very subject contact me and I can direct you to a knowledgeable advisor).
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