United objects to flight attendants' request for emergency stay on PBGC agreement

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, May 26 - United Air Lines, Inc. objected to The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO's emergency motion for a stay pending appeal of the emergency approval of UAL Corp.'s agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., according to a Wednesday filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The agreement with the PBGC is over termination of UAL's pension plans.

According to United's objection, AFA's primary argument is that, absent a stay, many flight attendants will choose to retire or resign immediately due to the termination of the flight attendant pension plan.

"But the decision to retire or resign is one of each individual flight attendant's choosing, not United's," the company said in the filing.

Also, United said it is "not unilaterally terminating a pension plan." Rather, PBGC has agreed to determine "whether a pension plan ought to be involuntarily terminated."

In turn, United said the agreement should play no role in any individual flight attendant's decision whether to retire and the stay should be denied.

Under the agreement, the pension regulator will terminate UAL's four pension plans and become trustee. The agency's claim against the company would be settled.

The four terminated plans are: the UA Pilot Defined Benefit Plan; the United Airlines Ground Employees Retirement Plan; the UA Flight Attendant Defined Benefit Pension Plan and the Management, Administrative and Public Contact Defined Benefit Pension Plan.

UAL, the Chicago-based parent of United, filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 9, 2002. Its Chapter 11 case number is 02-48191.

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