Plansponsor.com - November 30, 2004

"An independent fiduciary appointed to the United Airlines bankruptcy case is set to ask a US Bankruptcy Judge for permission to allow it to collect up to $1 billion in pending pension contributions".

Independent Fiduciary Services (IFS), which was appointed earlier this year as part of an agreement between United parent UAL and the US Department of Labor (DOL)…, will ask that the company's minimum pension funding requirements be designated as "administrative priority expenses" and released, Dow Jones reported. As per terms of its appointment, IFS was authorized to review the funding policy of the plans, assert claims (and) file lawsuits about the plans' funding and the company's contributions. "IFS has reviewed documents and conducted investigations contemplated by its agreement," according to documents expected to be filed with the court, Dow Jones reported. "Based on its investigation, IFS has determined that United has not only failed to pay mandatory (pension) contributions required by the Internal Revenue Service Code which came due (after the bankruptcy filing), but also those contributions directly attributable to the post-petition service of its employees."

Also see related stories in Washington Post, Business Section; Financial Times (London, England); AP; UPI; Chicago Tribune; Newsday; USA Today; New York Times - December 1, 2004; The National Law Journal (www.nlj.com) December 13, 2004