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In a four-part series, the Rocky Mountain News explores the problems facing the U.S. pension system and the millions of workers and retirees who still count on it for their retirement. It's a portrait with staggering numbers and sobering truths. After toiling on the tarmac for nearly 36 years at United Airlines, Jim Anthony finally received his payoff: a pension of almost $3,000 a month. Now the former ramp supervisor and operations planner could see that amount cut to $2,000 if the airline moves ahead with plans to end its pensions next year. The change could force Anthony, who is...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (Reuters) - US Airways Group Inc. (UAIR) told a bankruptcy court on Monday it would skip a $110 million pension payment due Wednesday as it looks to slash costs and avoid liquidation after filing for protection from its creditors over the weekend. *** The company, which negotiated new relief from the loan board, still owes more than $700 million to the government. *** Pension fund Retirement Systems of Alabama, which invested $240 million during the last bankruptcy, owns 36 percent of US Airways. The pilots' union, the Air Line Pilots Association, holds a 19 percent stake. The U.S....

United Airlines's recent announcement that it will skip payments to its four pension funds while it is in Chapter 11 has some observers murmuring about a government bailout. And not just any old bailout, but something akin to the hundreds of billions spent on the savings-and-loan debacle in the late 1980s. An overreaction? Unfortunately, no. What has people nervous is that United's decision to stop contributing to its pension plans is not as limited as it might seem. The carrier skipped its July payment of $72 million, and the September contribution of almost $500 million and the October one of...

The federal agency that insures pension plans said yesterday that its deficit had grown from $3.6 billion to $11.2 billion in just a year and that it would try to deal with the escalating problem by overhauling its own investments, among other measures. The agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, said that two consecutive years of record failures by corporate pension plans and continuing adverse market conditions left it with a shortfall much greater than a year earlier, which had been the previous low point in the agency's 30-year history. People briefed on the new investment plan say the agency...

Pension Insurance Plan Has Record Deficit LEIGH STROPE Associated Press WASHINGTON - Deficits at the government's pension insurance program surged to a record $11.2 billion in 2003 - three times larger than any previous shortfall, with the outgoing director warning Thursday that taxpayers could be called on for a bailout. Steven Kandarian, executive director of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., said the program wasn't yet in a financial crisis. But he urged Congress to act soon to reform the nation's private pension system, which is being squeezed by low interest rates, a subdued stock market and laws that do not...

<p>WASHINGTON -- Finances at the government's pension insurance program deteriorated further this past summer with its deficit reaching a record $8.8 billion as of Aug. 31, the agency's executive director told Congress on Tuesday.</p> <p>The cash-strapped Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) reported a deficit of $5.7 billion through July.</p>

UPDATE - U.S. pension agency's deficit grows to a record Tuesday October 14, 1:23 pm ET By Susan Cornwell WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The deficit at the U.S. agency that insures pensions grew to a record $8.8 billion at the end of August, the agency's director said on Tuesday, and he warned that U.S. taxpayers might ultimately have to bail out the agency. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which insures retirement plans for 44 million current workers and retirees, had forecast a $5.7 billion deficit earlier this year. The PBGC's shortfall "is the largest in its history and is...

WASHINGTON — Congressional investigators designated the government's pension-insurance program "high risk," adding it yesterday to a list of troubled agencies and services that need urgent attention. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC), which pays a portion of retirement benefits promised to workers enrolled in bankrupt plans, posted a record $3.6 billion shortfall last year after burning through its entire $7.7 billion surplus. As of March 31, the unaudited shortfall had grown to $5.4 billion. PBGC has "a significant accumulated deficit and faces additional potential losses," said David Walker, U.S. comptroller general and head of the General Accounting Office (GAO), the...

Pension Agency's Risk Is Being Questioned By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH The investigative arm of Congress is expected to announce today that it has added the federal agency that insures pension plans to its list of government operations at "high risk." David M. Walker, the comptroller general, was scheduled to testify Tuesday about the financial condition of the pension agency before the House committee on Education and the Workforce. The agency's solvency has deteriorated rapidly as the government has taken over a number of large, failing pension plans. The testimony of Mr. Walker, who leads the General Accounting Office, was canceled...