Please email or call every Retired Pilot you know and

ask them to open these emails and read them.

We need an Informed Pilot Group.

 

 

 

From:   BUERGEYW@cs.com

Subject: Re: Your Q & A

Date: November 5, 2006 1:52:50 PM CST

 

Question:  As a member of DP3 I feel that they should support your efforts with the appeal of the Bankruptcy Court decision and use some of their income from pilot contributions to help fund your efforts.  Do you believe that this is possible?

 

Answer:  I would welcome support from DP3, but based on their recent communication to their members I do not expect their assistance anytime soon.

 

Even though the leaders of DP3 were not willing to defend our pension plan, and based their decision to stand on the sidelines while Delta attempted to terminate our benefits on false information provided by Delta while failing to realize that DP3 was making their decision too early in a process that would be constantly evolving, they now argue that we do not have a chance to win this appeal and save the pilot pension plan.

 

These recent statements by the DP3 leadership come in spite of the fact that fuel prices have dropped significantly since DP3 decided to not oppose plan termination back in May, the pension reform law was passed in August, providing Delta with 17 years to make up its funding shortfalls, and Delta has reworked its network to rely on a much larger percentage of international flights which has led to an increase in both revenue per available seat mile and in the system wide load factor.

 

In short, DP3 is stuck with a poor decision that they made in May, that was based on information that was not even accurate at that time and has certainly changed since that time, and that also involved a ratification vote by its Trustees that is clearly suspect--read the comments by former DP3 Trustee Jim Haigh to Judge Hardin of the Bankruptcy Court found later in this message.

 

While I would welcome DP3's support, I believe they are too busy trying to cover up their past mistakes, and they will not admit that they acted too hastily and it should be them, and not me waging this last effort to save our pensions.  (I am fairly certain that their prior agreement with Delta prevents them from taking any steps to oppose plan termination at this time.)

 

Will Buergey

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

From:   BUERGEYW@cs.com

Subject: Re: Fight on Will

Date: November 5, 2006 12:06:42 PM CST

 

Statement:  With the revised pension checks of October 1, I have very little money left to pay my bills, but I would like to make a small contribution to assist in your efforts to save our pension plan.

 

Answer:  Thank you for your support.  I know how much the impact of the new pension calculations by Delta has had on the retired pilot group, and we appreciate any contribution you can make to help us with our efforts to maintain our pension plans.

 

If we are successful in the appeal of the plan termination, both the non-qualified and qualified plans should be restored, because the non-qualified plan can only be terminated if the qualified plan is terminated first.

 

Rather than asking for large contributions from a few retired pilots, I would prefer to receive small contributions from many pilots.  Please help us recruit new supporters for our efforts.  There is no minimum contribution to be a supporter of the appeal, and the upside potential is huge if we are successful.

 

Too many retired pilots have just decided to give up, after first being betrayed by Delta, then ALPA and finally DP3.  While ALPA and the active pilots were compensated for their silence, I feel that DP3 was too hasty to reach their decision to not oppose plan termination, that their decision was based on flawed information provided by Delta through its attorneys, and that Delta's financial condition has markedly improved since DP3 decided to stand by while Delta attempted to terminate the pilot pension plan.

 

Whatever happens to us in bankruptcy is permanent.  Delta and the active pilots can go forward from this point and prosper in the future, but we are permanently stuck with however we are penalized by the Bankruptcy Court and the PBGC.  This appeal is our last and only opportunity to preserve what is rightfully ours, and what we worked so many years to earn for our benefit and for the benefit of our families.  It is not worthy of our abilities and the contributions we made to the past success of this company, to simply surrender these benefits to a greedy corporation that no longer values our past service.

 

If we choose to walk away from this fight, the same management team that failed to prevent Delta's financial crisis will be amply rewarded for our sacrifices, while we will never recover what we have had taken away from us.

 

Please appeal to all of your Delta classmates and retired friends to become a part of this movement--if they won't fight for themselves, ask them to fight for their families and their fellow pilots!

 

Will

 

----------------------------------------------------

 

DP3: Please stop making false statements

 

I have recently received several emails from pilots opposed to the pension termination who have forwarded messages that they have received from DP3 Trustees that contain inaccurate statements about the status of our pension plan, actually telling these pilots that the pension plan has been terminated and that there is nothing that pilots can do to change this situation.

 

The pension plan has not been terminated and our group has filed an appeal of the decision by the Bankruptcy Court that Delta met the standards for a distress termination.  Meeting the standards for a distress termination, as viewed by the Bankruptcy Court, and an actual termination are not the same. 

 

The plan is not terminated until the PBGC accepts it, and at this point the PBGC has challenged Delta's case that they satisfied all of the requirements for a voluntary distress termination, and the PBGC has also appealed the legality of Letter 51 between Delta and ALPA and the manner in which Letter 51 rewards active pilots for the termination of the pension plan at the expense of retired pilots.

 

The Bankruptcy Court does not even have the authority to terminate the plan--that authority rests with the PBGC.

 

Those opposed to pension termination feel that Delta failed to meet many of the standards required for a voluntary distress termination as pointed out by our lawyers in our appeal to the Federal District Court, and as DP3 should have known if DP3 had not agreed to simply stand by while Delta attempted to terminate our pension benefits.

 

DP3 does all retired Delta pilots a disservice, especially those still fighting to stop this unfair treatment by Delta and the Bankruptcy Court, when they continue to send their inaccurate replies to pilots who are trying to figure out a way to make ends meet after their betrayal by first Delta, then ALPA and then DP3.

 

When I filed my objection to the DP3 Stipulation, one of the DP3 Trustees tried to talk me out of the objection by telling me that I was better off with the plan terminated, because I would receive 85% of my benefit if we could prevent the plan's assets from being shared with those not yet entitled to PC3 benefits.  It looks like the DP3 Trustees were either misinformed by Delta, or did not do their homework before reaching the Stipulation with Delta, because over 1300 of us, who were in PC3 status, are now receiving zero benefits.

 

The DP3 leaders also expressed shock and dismay over the manner in which Delta had calculated our ÒnewÓ benefits under the PBGC guidelines.  If DP3 had contacted the USAIR and United pilots who had dealt with the PBGC well before us, before reaching the agreement with Delta not to oppose plan termination, perhaps they would not have been so shocked to see the PBGC take such a hard line in calculating benefits.

 

It is to the advantage of both the PBGC and Delta to pay us as little as possible.  Delta benefits from lower payments, because they will owe the PBGC a creditorÕs claim for the non-paid obligations, and the lower the pension benefits paid to pilots, the lower the value of the claim that Delta will be required to pay the PBGC.

 

The PBGC benefits from lower payments, because it is operating at a deficit, and the less money the agency is required to pay Delta retirees, the more money they have available to pay other retired employees from other companies that have defaulted on their pension plans.

 

Will Buergey