Insurance / Retirement
Section 30 of our contract outlines our contractual pension & 401K benefits. 1-800-MY-DELTA is now your company contact for all retirement related questions. Please feel free to also call your Local AFA Officers if you have questions about your contractual rights in retirement or you feel the company is violating provisions of Section 30 in any way.
Section 29 of our contract outlines our contractual medical, dental, life, etc. benefits. For 2010 the contractual medical benefit option is "PPO Option B". All other plans are governed by company policy and not by this contractual language. Your company contact for benefit questions is now 1-800-MY-DELTA. If you feel the company is violating Section 29 or you have contractual questions, please contact your Local AFA Officers.
Latest Insurance & Retirement News
» Upcoming I&R Events
October 7, 2010 - AFA & DAL Retirement Board Meeting - Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. AFA Retirement Board Members, AFA MEC/Committee Reps, and Legal/Benefits reps will meet with Delta in Atlanta to review our contractual pension fund per the related provisions in Section 30 of our contract.
October 20 - November 18, 2010 - Open Enrollment We’ve been working hard for months to discuss the upcoming open enrollment process with Delta Benefits. Our goal is/was to work with Delta to make sure the chaos and mistakes that happened last/this year will not occur again. Due to Delta’s lack of adequate action and response to these issues, a complaint was filed with the Department of Labor regarding ongoing benefit issues stemming from last year’s open enrollment mess. UPDATE: At long last, after we filed the complaint with the DOL, we received information about Delta’s plan to improve the enrollment process this fall. You can view our notes from Delta’s 2011 OE plan HERE.
» Health Care Reform - Young Adult Coverage
1 September 2010 - Inquiries are coming in about the expansion of coverage to children up to age 26, brought about by the health care reform (Affordable Care Act) passed by Congress earlier this year. Delta must offer this option by law, and they’ll offer it in the upcoming fall open enrollment process for January 1, 2011. Delta’s June FAQ can be viewed HERE (from Deltanet). On August 31st, additional information was posted on Deltanet HERE. Per Section 29 of our contract, we have dependent coverage up to age 19 (or to 26 if a full time student). The new law expands that. More information about this and the changes brought about by the Affordable Care Act can be found at healthcare.gov.
Important highlights for the “Age 26” coverage— the basic requirement is that the person under age 26 is your child - that’s it. Tax dependency does not matter, and it’s not necessary to be a student, single, living at home—with one exception, the only factor is that the person to be covered is your child. The one exception would be if the adult child has health insurance available from his or her own employment. So far, there is no guidance on exceptions to this, e.g., it doesn’t matter if the insurance available is more expensive, poorer coverage, less desirable than your coverage. If your child is married, his or her spouse and children are not required to be covered by your plan—adult child only.
Posted by Webmaster on 09/01 at 09:57 AM» AFA Enlists Department of Labor
August 2010 - The open enrollment process and ongoing benefit concerns have negatively impacted many of our fellow members and retirees and AFA representatives have worked tirelessly to ensure these issues were remedied. However, after months of insufficient response from management, we have taken an additional proactive measure and have filed a report with the U.S. Department of Labor. To read our complete filing to the DOL, click HERE.
Posted by Webmaster on 08/09 at 05:49 PM» A Note Regarding Dependent Coverage
July 2010 - The normal protocol may not have been followed, in some cases, by Delta’s Employee Service Center for those with dependents who turned or are approaching age 19 since January 1, 2010. The normal process provides that the Employee Service Center sends an employee a letter 60 days prior to his/her dependent’s 19th birthday instructing the employee to provide documentation to support continued coverage. There is a 90 day grace period following the dependent’s 19th birthday, and at the end of that period, medical, dental and travel benefits will be terminated. If you have a child approaching 19 or who turned 19 since the beginning of the year, AFA strongly recommends that you submit the required documentation to avoid any lapse in medical, dental or travel privileges. Flight Attendants will need to send a Family Status Change form and proof of full-time student enrollment to the Employee Service Center in the 90 day window to keep the child on dependent status. That form can be found on the Benefits Direct portion of the Deltanet. For those flight attendants whose dependent turned 19 more than 90 days ago but after January 1, 2010, we have been informed that the Employee Service Center will send a communication to everyone who was missed, explaining what they need to do to have their child listed as full time student for health insurance and/or travel purposes.
Posted by jrook on 07/26 at 09:36 AM» Retiree Badges
June 2010 - Per Delta’s policy if the company does not have a photo of you on file you will need to come in to an ID office either in MSP or at ATL, with a government issued ID and take a picture. ID office hours in MSP are Monday and Tuesday 7-12;1-3 or on Fridays by appointment only. Questions? Contact the MSP ID office at 612-727-6898 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Posted by jrook on 06/09 at 02:29 PM» 401K Changes – July 2010
Our new Delta 401(k) plan administrated by Fidelity mailed a booklet titled “Your Guide to the New Fund Lineup” to all Delta flight attendants participating in the Delta 401(k) plans. (link Guide to the New Fund)
The guide explains what we need to know and to do for the transfer of the PMNW 401(k) current funds in which your accounts are invested will be replaced with a new 27-fund lineup and recordkeeping will change from ING to Fidelity. These transfers will occur in July 2010 and this will allow us time to review the materials and make elections on how to invest our account balances. (link to Q&A)
AFA has obtained the Fidelity 401(k) contracts, as well as the ING contracts for review under ERISA. Our contractual provisions are found in Section 30 of our Collective Bargaining Agreement. (link section 30)
Fidelity login and Sign up webpage: www.netbenefits.com
Resources are available to you on DeltaNet under the Employee Connection section and you may call the Delta Service Center at Fidelity at 800-554-0262.
» Delta Adds To Pension Plan
April 9, 2010 - Delta announced earlier this year that the PMNW flight attendant pension plan dropped below 80% funding. The separate PMDL flight attendant pension plan funding had dropped even more dramatically to under 60%. Your MEC has requested a full review with our advisers of the PMNW AFA Flight Attendant Pension Plan, pursuant to Section 30 - Retirement of our NWA AFA CBA. Delta Adds to Pension Funds
Posted by jrook on 04/09 at 09:41 AM» No/Incorrect Benefits or Pension Checks? You Aren’t Alone
Some advice - call customer service reps (whether Delta ESC or plan administrators like United Healthcare, etc) a maximum of 3 times, then resort to written requests via US Mail and/or email. Click HERE for some common Delta Contact Information. Write to them detailing your problem, and request a written response detailing the resolution within a specified number of days. Be sure to document: dates, times, case numbers, etc. for the case record. If you can’t reach a resolution, please contact your Local AFA representatives for assistance.
» New NWA AFA FMLA Task Force
December 11, 2009 - Complaints of invasion of privacy and other problems continue to be reported to AFA, over the Delta Family Medical Leave processing. In the past our FML was handled in a fairly straightforward and non-invasive manner by NWA Central Administration. Now, we must learn to work with the outsourced company that Delta uses for Family Medical Leave. Your MEC has formed a FMLA Task Force, to work on issues and complaints that continue to be reported to AFA representatives. Please contact them at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). For questions/problems related to On The Job Injuries, please contact your OJI Committee Chair and Vice Chair on the MEC OJI web page. Please review your rights under HIPAA and FMLA HERE. For a Long Term Disability Insurance FAQ, click HERE.
» 2010 Delta Benefits
MEC Hotline - Special Editions
Part 1: 2010Benefits1.pdf
Part 2: 2010Benefits2.pdf
» Delta Changes Medical Plan Administrator - 2010
AFA has learned that Delta has chosen to leave Blue Cross/Blue Shield in 2010 and has selected United Health Care as our 2010 plan administrator. While we have experienced plan administrator changes in the past, we are fortunate that Section 29 - Insurance of our contract requires a minimum of a typical indemnity medical plan, outlines who and what is covered, and limits cost increases for both active employees and our retirees. Over the past couple of years Delta flight attendants lost their typical indemnity medical plan, and instead were given a choice of high deductible plans – an HRA or HSA. While the up-front payroll deductions for premiums for an HRA & HSA can be lower, the deductible and out-of-pocket costs of these types of plans can be onerous. For a comparison of current DL & NW medical plans, please click HERE. Following a vote for union representation, DL & NW flight attendants will negotiate our benefit choices, based upon our own priorities.
Posted by jrook on 07/16 at 02:26 PM» Pre-Merger Delta Flight Attendant Lawsuit Against Delta Air Lines For Pension Plan Amendment
On June 29, 2009, a single Delta flight attendant filed a class action lawsuit in US District Court (Northern District of Georgia) claiming violations of fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). The lawsuit claims that the 8th amendment to the Delta Pension Plan, which was implemented by DAL on March 31, 2007, will reduce pension benefits by millions of dollars because of a change in the calculation of the Plan’s Social Security offset that affects some plan participants. You can read the DAL flight attendant’s claim against DAL HERE.
This case highlights several important points:
- The NWA Pension Plan does not have a Social Security Offset. Any action by DAL management to unilaterally change the Delta Pension Plan does not affect benefits under the NWA Pension Plan. As long as we have a contract, no change can be made to our pension plan without our consent.
- NWA flight attendants have a union to fight for us. We do not have to rely on one tenacious flight attendant to hire a lawyer to protect every flight attendant’s rights. Our dues provide us with a legal department and the means to hire outside experts when needed to assure that our rights are enforced and our benefits assured.
- Without a union, a legal voice at the bargaining table, we will be subject to “executive decisions” and will have no legal department to fight for us. Our right to negotiate better pension benefits will vanish and any chance to eliminate the Social Security offset in the Delta pension plan in the future will be lost.
- While ERISA secures benefits already accrued under a company’s retirement plan, it does nothing to help improve retiree benefits as the costs of retirement rise. That’s one huge advantage of maintaining a voice during future contract negotiations – having the right to negotiate benefits such as increased employer contributions to our Retirement Savings Plan (Section 30 – Retirement Plan Agreement) and continuation of and even improvements to retiree healthcare (Section 29 – Insurance).
These issues are critical to DAL and NWA flight attendants, many of whom retire before Medicare eligibility. Only a contract secures these benefits. IF YOU ARE NOT SITTING AT THE BARGAINING TABLE, YOU ARE ON THE MENU. - Submitted by Cheryl Magyar, Retired NWA DTW FA
Posted by jrook on 07/16 at 01:57 PM» 2009 Early Out Participants - Cobra Subsidy Update
Pre-merger Delta and Northwest flight attendants participating in the 2009 Early Out/55 Point Programs may be eligible to receive a 65% tax-free government subsidy to their premiums under COBRA. The U.S. Department of Labor has ruled that they would consider employees who elected to participate in our voluntary programs eligible for the ARRA COBRA subsidy, as long as they also meet the other eligibility requirements. The subsidy can be provided retroactively for those who have already left the company under the 2009 voluntary program. According to the Northwest Benefits Department, they are working on letters to employees who have already left under the voluntary programs, who did not apply for the ARRA subsidy. They are currently processing and mailing letters to anyone who applied for the ARRA subsidy, but was previously denied.
Posted by jrook on 07/16 at 01:55 PM» Merger Benefit & Pension Information
NWA & DAL Medical Plan Comparison 2009
: DAL_NWA_Medical_Plans_Comparison_2009.pdf
NWA & DAL Pension Plan Information 2008
: DAL_NWA_Pension_Merger_Information.pdf 2008
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