http://www.latimes.com/business/investing/wire/sns-ap-delta-hearing,1,7331296.story?coll=sns-ap-investing-headlines
The LA Times says about $75,000
Maybe Delta's lawyers lied? Or, maybe the "newsie" putting together this story didn't comprehend what 39% of existing retirement liability really means when the company is talking in the sense of "if the plan is terminated".
That 39% is about $30,000, or 2/3 of the maximum table value.
Remember, that would include existing and newly retired pilots as of 2006, on average, and the article has no information at all on what the current average really is.
All Delta has to pay when the plan is terminated is enough money to support an annuity that pays pilots annuities according to the government's schedule.