UA mgt. won a court ruling to allow them to bail on their retirement funding. Employees are threatening to strike, even though the strike might well be deemed illegal -- what do they have to lose at this point?

So watch the news in the next day or so, and be careful about booking.

If you bought your ticket within the last 60 days, you can probably work through your credit card company to protect yourself; anything before that, s.o.o.l. As for getting from point A to point B, we're all in the same awful boat.

I can't help but note how appropriate your Fodor's moniker is for the message you are relaying!

My name was chosen for that reason, pretty much. (Much more literary than "I told you so" too!)

I now read on the Airline forum that even if the retirement decision is appealed (which might postpone a strike on that account), the next shoe to drop is a bid to void the mechanics and ground workers' contracts -- which certainly would prompt a strike. Yike.

Dad just retired after 32 years with a major airline (not this one, thank goodness), how devastating to have your retirement messed with after all that time being loyal to the company, I hope this works out for the employees...

I am not being an apologist for UA here, but in answer to Cassandra's question, "what do they have to lose at this point?", the answer is....eveything.

If UAL goes out on strike, they will go under....then it's no pension, no job, no hope.

The situation s!@#s, but a strike will only make it worse.

jmho

And if this decision proves to be in good standing, do you think that other companies will <not> follow in their footsteps? Hmmmm... bet the UAW and others are also watching this very closely. ...We should ALL be concerned.

Couple of monthes ago we had a similar thread on Continental. Nothing major happened.

Let's just wait and hope.

There is still quite a bit of uncertainty in the United situation. I don't know that I'd read too much into what the company intends to do and how the union intends to react at this point as it is difficult to ascertain what is a negotiating tactic versus what is a definitive plan.

What is certain is that United has a deal with the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation to terminate the plan. Legally speaking, there is very little the Union's can do to prevent that from occurring under Bankruptcy law.

The only certainty with the airline industry today is the uncertainty. As this is a travel forum, I'd suggest you ALWAYS pay for airline tickets with a credit card.

It is really the only protection a consumer has given all the potential disruptions.

The situation with Continental was not like this -- they aren't as close to the abyss as United.

If you suddenly have no pension (or 25% of what you thought you had), and/or your employer voids an employment contract with you and can fire ("furlough") on a moment's notice, you are indeed awfully close to having little to lose by striking -- in the one case, you already have the 25% such as it is, with no hope of increasing it to a living level; in the other, either no job or no job.

It's complicated, and I see no logic in blaming either mgt. 100% or unions 100% -- they are both working within a system that makes no sense whatsoever. (But it does seem to me that the ones who are going to be most hurt -- strike or not -- are employees and passengers. I daresay mgt.'s retirement funds are in good shape.)

I surely hope that things can be worked out without going into the Doom Zone created by a strike. But at the moment, I don't see how unless there are more legal maneuvers (sp???) I don't know about.

We are all four booked round-trip United for our dream trip to Europe late in May. I'm sure keeping my fingers crossed for a non-strike solution to the mess. It's a sad comment on our economy in general. Many similarly failing companies are closely watching the proceedings-- unfortunately including the company where my pension is held. Here's hoping for a good outcome for all.