Weather is not freezing, but NWA Pilots' pension plan is

[CatholicEdHead]

http://www.startribune.com/535/story/217230.html

"NEW YORK — A New York bankruptcy judge Tuesday allowed Northwest Airlines Corp. to freeze its pilot pension plan and approved the carrier's request to negotiate lower lease and loan payments for certain aircraft.

The carrier, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September, and its pilots union, the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), agreed to the freeze of the defined benefit plan. The creditors committee also came out in support of the freeze, effective on Feb. 1, in court.

The pilots will now get a defined contribution plan, the details of which are still being hashed out between ALPA and Northwest.

With the defined contribution plan, the onus is on employees to manage how their regular contribution is invested and they bear the risk of any change in its value. With the pension plan, an employee was assured of a fixed amount irrespective of financial market moves, a situation that could be costly at times for the carrier."