Judge gives mixed ruling in U.S. Airways pension case ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) =97 A bankruptcy judge agreed late Saturday to allow=20 U.S. Airways to terminate its pilots' pension plan, but said his ruling=20 will be subject to the pending decision of an arbitrator. The pension issue= =20 is the last hurdle US Airways faces in its plan to emerge from bankruptcy=20 by March 31. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Stephen Mitchell's ruling means that the= =20 airline has not yet completely cleared that hurdle and will be under=20 immense pressure to resolve the pension issue quickly. US Airways spokesman= =20 Chris Chiames said this is the next step. "We think this is an important=20 ruling because it allows us to stay on track. We're calling on ALPA to join= =20 us in immediate negotiations," he said. Roy Freundlich, a spokesman for the= =20 Airline Pilots Association, said the union is pleased that an arbitrator=20 will decide if terminating the plan violates the pilots' collective=20 bargaining agreement. The key issue is whether the pilots' union agreed to= =20 allow the airline to terminate the pension plan in a secret agreement=20 reached back in December. In the agreement, management promised to begin a= =20 new, smaller pension plan if the old one were terminated. They kept the=20 agreement secret because if it became public, they thought it would torpedo= =20 efforts to get Congressional legislation to fix their problem. But union=20 and management differed on the agreement's meaning. US Airways said the=20 letter constituted acquiescence from the pilots to termination of their= plan. But the union said the agreement was only designed to give them protection= =20 in the event that the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. instituted=20 efforts to terminate the plan. Judge Mitchell said Saturday that it was a=20 close call but sided with the union on its interpretation. On all other=20 matters, Mitchell sided with the airline. He agreed that the airline faces= =20 imminent threat of liquidation if it does not resolve the pension issue and= =20 he agreed that the airline does not have the money to fully fund its=20 pension plan. US Airways said the March 31 deadline is critical because it= =20 cannot receive $1.24 billion in financing until it emerges from bankruptcy= =20 and that it could run out of cash without financing. Mitchell heard four=20 days of testimony and did not rule until 8 p.m. Saturday. This came after=20 several pilots testified about how much money they would lose if U.S.=20 Airways is allowed to proceed with its plan. Charles Couch, of Landenberg,= =20 Pa., said his annual pension would drop from $65,000 to $30,000 a year. "It puts me in a dilemma where I can't afford to retire. ... I would have=20 to find another job" after retiring from the airline, he said. The union said most pilots would receive annual benefits of $50,000 to=20 $70,000 a year under the old plan. Under the new plan, those benefits could= =20 be cut in half. About 18 pilots stood to receive lump-sum benefits of $1-2= =20 million just days from now. Those benefits are now on hold. An arbitrator=20 is scheduled to hear the issue March 13. The final hearing for US Airways=20 to emerge from bankruptcy is scheduled for March 18. US Airways said the=20 pilots' pension is underfunded by about $800 million over the next seven= years. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.dbombo.net/muddyangels/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************