Pension Funding Reform Enacted
Aug.17, 2006

Today, in a signing ceremony at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., President Bush signed into law, H.R. 4, The Pension Protection Act of 2006, bringing to a successful close the 18-month advocacy effort by Delta employees and retirees. Beth Graham, Anne Larkin, Bill Morey, and Jack Roth represented the Delta Board Council at the event and were joined by Captain Paul Repp, a Delta pilot and personal friend of President Bush.

Through more than 100,000 messages and dozens of visits to Capitol Hill, employee and retiree grassroots advocacy pushed pension reform legislation through each step of the complex legislative process. Senator Johnny Isakson and Representative Tom Price of Georgia listened and made sure that all of their colleagues understood that pension reform with airline-specific funding provisions was critical if Delta was to have a fighting chance of preserving the benefits earned by Delta’s 91,000 ground and flight attendant employees and retirees under the Delta Retirement Plan. In the end, this strong united effort did the job. Both houses passed H.R. 4 by overwhelming majorities of 93 to 5 in the Senate and 279 to 131 in the House.

Employees and retirees are invited to thank their representatives for this show of support through What You Can Do.

What’s Next?
Delta now intends to preserve the defined benefit pension plan for its active and retired ground and flight attendant employees. That plan – The Delta Retirement Plan – was frozen effective Dec. 31, 2005 such that no further benefits are earned under the plan after that date. The enacted legislation does help Delta to be able to provide non-pilot employees with the benefits earned through the date the plan was frozen. When plans are terminated and turned over to the PBGC, that doesn’t always happen.

Read the updated Q&A to find out more about what this legislation means to Delta ground and flight attendant employees and retirees.