You Really Have To Love Flying To Train For This...

By HARRY R. WEBER, AP Business Writer

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc. will file a request Monday to terminate its pilots' pension plan, the company's chief executive said in a letter to a lawmaker Friday.

CEO Gerald Grinstein said in the letter to Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., that the nation's third-largest carrier will ask that the pilots' pension plan be terminated effective Sept. 2.

The move was not unexpected, and Grinstein said the Atlanta-based airline is still seeking pension reform in Congress in hopes of preserving the pension plan for other employees.

"The unfortunate reality is that even if a pension reform bill containing airline relief passes, unless the pilot plan is terminated, Delta cannot successfully restructure and emerge from bankruptcy," Grinstein wrote.

He added that the relief Delta is seeking is necessary "if we are to preserve tens of thousands of jobs and provide ongoing service to tens of millions of customers in local communities around the world."

Once the notice is made to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. on Monday, then the company will seek approval by a judge. There likely will be objections, though the pilots, for their part, have agreed not to object.

The letter to Isakson, who has been pushing for pension reform in Congress, also was sent to more than a dozen other members of Congress.

Delta has lost more than $14 billion in the last five years. It filed for bankruptcy last September and since then it has cut more jobs, rejected aircraft leases and reaped cost savings through pay cuts for employees.

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All this time, money and effort to aspire to a career that is in a pretty severe state of decline. Looking at this from the outside without my rose colored glasses, I must look dim to some of my friends and family. No matter. I would rather make less money and look forward to work every day. I love flying. Life is too short to have a career based strictly on earning potential.

FULL SPEED AHEAD.