The Social Security Offset
June 20, 2009
As our retired pilot population ages, many of us are going to be affected by the Social Security offset of the PWA. Referencing page 9 of the July 2005 Delta MEC Retirement and Insurance Handbook: "Social Security Offset - Applies at the earlier of the date of your Social Security benefits or age 65. If you were on the DAL, WAL, or Pan Am seniority lists before February 9, 1982, your monthly offset is $94 at age 62 or $117 at age 65. Otherwise, your offset equals $259 monthly (at age 62) prorated for service less than 25 years. If you receive the Minimum Benefit, no offset applies."
Many of you have asked: what does all this mean? For a discussion and examples of the offset, read this briefing prepared by Trustee Bill Caiazza.
2009 DP3 Trustee Election Results
June 4, 2009
The 2009 DP3 Trustee election is complete and the results have been certified by the Board of Trustees.
Before announcing the new board, DP3 would like to thank Jim Bomar and John Mills for their years of excellent service to the membership. We wish them well as they enjoy their future retirement years.
The four candidates elected to the DP3 Board of Directors for three year terms starting July 1, 2009 are:
Bill Caiazza George Leatherbury Bud Musser Roger Ross
The Trustees would like to congratulate and thank each of these candidates for their willingness to serve their fellow retirees. DP3 would also like to thank all of the candidates for their willingness to be nominated for election. DP3 would like to recognize all of our Honor Roll members and especially those who have recently upgraded their status to Honor Roll. The Honor Roll is the backbone of our organization and their support is vital to our efforts. We encourage any member to become involved by volunteering to serve on one of our committees as we seek to maximize our pension benefits.
DP3 strives to be an organization driven by the wishes of our membership. The goal of all DP3 Trustees is to keep our members informed on issues that affect our retirement and benefits. DP3 maintains an informative website at DP3.ORG detailing important information about retiree issues and our activities. In the coming months all retirees will receive the final determination letters from the PBGC. DP3 has already identified some errors that may be included by the PBGC in your final benefit calculations. DP3 intends to represent all Honor Roll members who disagree with their final determination to ensure that our earned benefits are calculated accurately.
DP3 is also actively involved in drafting legislative remedies for PBGC issues that reduce some of the benefits that we receive from the PBGC. In the coming months we will be asking our members to contact their representives in support of these efforts. We encourage you to stay informed and communicate with us and your elected congressional representatives.
Thank you to our Honor Roll members for your participation in the voting process and your support.
Chairman's Report from May 2009 Trustee Board Meeting
May 15, 2009
The DP3 trustees held our quarterly face to face meeting on May 6, 2009 in Atlanta. During our meeting we discussed and took action on many items of interest to the DP3 members, including DP3's involvement in a new Bankruptcy Reform Team at the NRLN, the work of the R&I Committee regarding errors on the PBGC benefit estimates, the creation of a separate DP3 Insurance Committee headed by Jeff Pickett, an update on the 2009 Trustee Election, and an update on DP3's participation at the Delta Annual Meeting in June. Read the full report...
The minutes of this meeting are posted in the documents section of our web page. Read the minutes...
NRLN Task Force Working to Reform Bankruptcy and PBGC Rules
May 13, 2009
[From Bill Kadereit, NRLN President] In February, I sent letters to President Obama and the Senate Judiciary committee members to advocate the need for legislation to reform bankruptcy laws to better protect retirees' pensions and benefits in bankruptcy court proceedings. My letters were followed up with an NRLN Action Alert that saw Grassroots Network members email nearly 7,000 letters to Washington on this issue. In March, the NRLN presented to a Congressional staff member a white paper prepared by the Delta Pilots retiree organization on the need to reform bankruptcy laws and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) rules. Now, the NRLN is taking an additional step forward with the creation of a Task Force to not only address needed changes in bankruptcy laws but also in rules applied by the PBGC when it takes over a defined benefits pension plan. continue reading...
Chairman's Update 4-5-09
posted April 7, 2009
It has come to our attention that some retirees who retired on or before January 1, 1997 (or after that date if you retired under the contract 96 early retirement program) were not aware of a special contractual provision that allows them to receive a reimbursement from Delta for their Medicare Part B Premiums (this provision was eliminated effective January 1 1997 for retirees who retired after that date.) Apparently some retired pilots were automatically enrolled in this program while others were not, and some retirees did not even know the reimbursement existed. If you are a pre-January 1997 retiree and are not currently receiving this benefit, please notify DP3 and the Delta Employee Service Center immediately. (1-800-MY-DELTA) read the full Chairman's update...
Trustee Update 3-26-09
posted April 4, 2009
This month's letter will be a departure from Will's usual excellent summaries of the current status of our efforts on your behalf. Will has undertaken so many tasks that I asked him to let me write this one rather than have him take time away from those responsibilities. The fact that he agreed shows how busy he is.
This is an opportunity to show you some of the inner workings of DP3. I'll summarize and provide links to some of our current efforts at the end of this. Additionally, the minutes of our March conference call are available on the web site. For those of you interested I hope you'll take the time to read the entire article before you scan to the bottom... read the full update...
Synopsis of the Soaring Eagles Court Case against the PBGC
March 29, 2009
We have asked our attorneys at Miller and Martin to prepare a layman's explanation of the recent court decision in the Soaring Eagles case against the PBGC. For those not following closely, Soaring Eagles is the DP3 counterpart on the USAir property – the retired pilots of USAirways. They have already received their final benefit determinations and exhausted the administrative objection process, and are now litigating 11 parts of their benefit determinations in federal court.
We want our membership to know that the DP3 trustees and our lawyers are following the USAir case closely. While their pilot working agreement (PWA) and retirement programs are significantly different from our own PWA and retirements, and the outcome of much of their litigation will not apply to our situation, there are some similarities which may establish some precedents that will either help or harm our own potential case against the PBGC if we ultimately end up challenging our own final benefits.
Mr. Booth has reminded us that "virtually no legal principal is as clear as it appears when lawyers explain it to someone. The law, if one reads the several opinions in the Chevron case, is certainly not as clear as I have articulated it."
We will try to provide regular updates to the Soaring Eagles case as developments warrant. Click here to read the synopsis...
Good News from the HCTC Program
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, new economic stimulus legislation, was recently approved by Congress and signed by the President. Included in this legislation is the Trade Adjustment Assistance Health Coverage Improvement Act, which changes some of the requirements for the Health Coverage Tax Credit (HCTC). The new law, including the changes to the HCTC, expires on December 31, 2010.
A key change that is important to DP3 members is that the HCTC will pay a greater portion of your health insurance costs. The tax credit is increasing from 65% to 80% of qualified health insurance premiums. If you are a monthly HCTC participant, the 80% tax credit amount will be reflected on your HCTC invoice beginning in April 2009.
The changes will expire on December 31, 2010. For more information, call the HCTC at 1-866-628-HCTC (4282) or review the HCTC Latest News Page on the IRS.GOV web site.
Rumors, Questions, and Doubts
Recently we have seen a surge in rumors, apparently spurred by the widely publicized denial of the Soaring Eagle’s request for preliminary injunction. The misinformation that is taking on a life of its own is not in the best interest of the retirees. The following is an effort to bring facts into the discussion: continue reading...
