Pension deal could clear US Airways for emergence from bankruptcy ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) =97 Federal pension regulators expect to decide this= week=20 whether to accept a deal struck between US Airways and its pilots on a new= =20 pension plan, the last major obstacle to the airline's emergence from=20 bankruptcy. The airline and the pilots' union agreed over the weekend on a= =20 new, defined-contribution plan that will replace the old defined-benefits=20 plan, which will be taken over by the federal Pension Benefits Guaranty=20 Corp. Jeffrey Speicher, a spokesman for the PBGC, said the agency received= =20 details of the agreement Monday and would reach a decision in the next few= =20 days. A hearing is scheduled for Friday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. If the=20 PBGC gives its blessing to the plan by then, it is likely that the=20 bankruptcy judge would give final approval to US Airways' reorganization=20 plan. Speicher said the PBGC's analysis is limited to the question of=20 whether the replacement plan would provide essentially the same benefits to= =20 pilots as the old plan. US Airways had said it did not have the money to=20 make the $1.6 billion in contributions that would be required over the next= =20 seven years to keep the pension plan solvent. Actuaries hired by the pilots= =20 earlier this month agreed with the bleak assessment. Under the deal reached= =20 over the weekend, the old plan will be terminated and taken over by the=20 PBGC. That means pilots who were in line to receive average annual benefits= =20 of $50,000 to $70,000 a year will now receive an annual benefit of about=20 $28,500, the maximum allowed under PBGC rules. But the PBGC benefit will be supplemented with the new defined-contribution= =20 plan. The company had initially proposed contributing about $850 million=20 over the next seven years into the new plan. After negotiating with the=20 pilots, the airline agreed to contribute an extra $154 million, a 17=20 percent increase, said union spokesman Roy Freundlich. "This was the best=20 we could achieve," Freundlich said. "It's not as good as saving the=20 original defined-benefits plan, but it's significantly better than what the= =20 company had initially proposed." US Airways spokesman David Castelveter=20 would not comment on the specific terms of the new deal, but said the=20 company expects a decision from the PBGC in the next few days. US Airways=20 filed for bankruptcy in August, after losing $2 billion in 2001. The=20 airline has shed roughly a third of its pre-Sept. 11 workforce of 46,000,=20 and employees have agreed to more than $1 billion a year in wage=20 concessions to keep the airline afloat. The company has always said it=20 planned to emerge from bankruptcy protection by the end of March =97 a date= =20 most experts believed was unrealistic back in August. Once the company=20 emerges from bankruptcy, it gains access to $1.24 billion in financing that= =20 is crucial to the company's long-term success. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx 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.thehummingbirdonline.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************