United, We Fall? | WBUR and NPR - On Point with Tom Ashbrook

TODAY IS THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 2010

Thursday, August 5, 2004 at 10:00 AM EDT

United, We Fall?

United Airlines has announced that it will not make $568 million in pension contributions this year. United’s machinists union sued the company on Monday to force it to resume pension payments.

The world’s second-largest airline has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since December 2002. Some analysts say the carrier might try to offload its pension obligations to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which oversees and insures corporate pension accounts.

If United bails out, what about other companies that find themselves in the red? Should the federal government bail out companies that can’t deliver on their pension promises? Can the federal government afford to do so?

Click one of the “Listen” links to hear about the future of pensions in America.

Guests:

Shawn Tully, senior writer covering airline industry for Fortune magazine

Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economics and director of the Higgens Labor Research Lab at The University of Notre Dame

Richard Brownlee, professor and pension expert at The Darden School of Business Administration at The University of Virginia.

Comments are closed.

After ‘No Child Left Behind’
Thursday, March 18, 2010

The Obama administration wants to rewrite No Child Left Behind. We’ll ask what’s coming for American education.

Comments [42]

The U.S.-Israel Blowup
Thursday, March 18, 2010

Top Pentagon brass complain the Israel-Palestinian impasse is undermining American interests. We’ll look at the US-Israel moment of crisis.

Comments [112]

Jazz Great Sonny Rollins
Wednesday, March 17, 2010

We’ll talk with tenor saxophone great Sonny Rollins about his six decades at the pinnacle of jazz.

Comments [22]

Ireland’s Epic Boom and Bust
Wednesday, March 17, 2010

For more than a decade Ireland boomed. It was Europe’s Celtic Tiger. Then it came crashing down. We’ll look at Ireland’s wild rise, and what went wrong.

Comments [24]

Sonny Rollins on Race and Jazz’s Future

Jazz legend Sonny Rollins joined us to reflect on his storied career and give us his thoughts on the future of music. To celebrate his 80th birthday, the hugely influential tenor saxophonist is embarking on yet another national tour.

IED’s in Afghanistan: Hard Numbers

The Department of Defense provided On Point with some statistics about IED attacks in Afghanistan, where there has been an increase in the use of such weapons over the past 14 months. It’s striking to see the spike in numbers — from 2,677 IED incidents in 2007 to 8,159 last year.

More » | Comments [2]

Christopher Hill: U.S. Troop Withdrawal ‘On Schedule’

U.S. Ambassaor to Iraq Christopher Hill spoke with On Point live from Baghdad today as early voting gets underway, part of the run-up to Sunday’s elections. “So far so good,” Hill said, despite scattered violence. Hill said that the plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops by Sept. 1, and to leave only a residual advisory force of 50,000 or fewer, remains “very much on schedule.” Observers worry that a spike in violence could derail that timeline.