The company’s overall goal is to achieve a competitive cost per block hour. While the aggregate costs per block hour include pension costs, there are myriad ways to achieve competitive costs.

The company acknowledges the importance of retirement benefits for pilots. American now provides the best-funded, most rewarding pilot retirement plan in the industry. This is done through a combination of the Fixed Income Plan (the A Plan) and the Variable Plan (the B Plan) which provide an option to pay out benefits in lump sum upon retirement. On average, an American career pilot retires with lump sum pension benefits worth between $1 million to $3 million.

Contract negotiations must take into account federal legislation that has raised the mandatory pilot retirement age from 60 to 65. This has the potential to increase pilot operating costs. Therefore, the company believes that the best way to protect pension benefits is to achieve competitive costs that build a framework for long-term growth and profitability.

Pilot B Plan Proposal and Calculator