Boeing Co., Chicago, reaffirmed it expects to contribute $750 million to its defined benefit pension plans later this year, according to its first-quarter earnings report released Wednesday.
The company did not make any pension contribution in the three months ended March 31.
Boeing's non-cash pension expense was $1.03 billion for the first quarter, up 30% from the same period last year. The rise in pension costs relate largely to the transition from freezing the DB plans for non-union employees and executives and members of Seattle- and St. Louis-area International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and moving them into an enhanced 401(k) plan, effective Jan. 1, 2016, said Charles “Chaz” Bickers, Boeing spokesman.
Boeing had $58.1 billion in defined benefit assets and $68.6 billion projected benefit obligations as of Dec. 31, for a funding ratio of 84.7%. Its 410(k) plan had $35.8 billion in assets.
