Northwest Airlines Corp., Eagan, Minn., today was granted permission by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Allan Gropper in New York to freeze its pilots' pension plan, according to Tracy Carlson, Northwest spokeswoman. The Air Line Pilots Association had agreed to the freeze. ALPA representatives couldn't be reached by press time for comment. "It's an ongoing plan. It's not a reportable event to the PBGC," said Jeffrey Speicher, public affairs specialist at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.
Northwest has an estimated $5.6 billion in total defined benefit assets, according to Pensions & Investments' data. A breakout of the pilots plan's assets and liabilities was not available by press time, she said.
