Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 

1200 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005-4026 

MAY 3 '1 2004 

Re: Case 194025, Trans World Airlines, InC. 

(TWA) Retirement Plan for Employees (the Plan) 

The Appeals Board reviewed your appeal of PBGC's December 12, 

2003 determination of your benefits from the Plan. or the reasons 

stated below, the Board granted your appeal by finding that PBGC 

should recalculate your benefit as if you had been continuously 

employed by TWA at your regular salary rate until April 19, 1993 in 

,accordance with your Arbitration Award. 

As a result of the Board's finding, PBGC1s Insurance 

Operations Department (IOD), the office responsible for issuing 

benefit determinations, will'send you a corrected determination 

letter, which will include a new 45-day right to appeal. 

Determination and Appeal 

PBGC determined that you were entitled to a monthly benefit of 

$68.50 from the Mechanics Plan (IAM Plan) starting on October 1, 

2020 and a monthly benefit of $185.60 from the Flight ~ttendants 

Plan (IFFA Plan) starting on October 1, 2015. PBGC told you that 

the benefit amounts are payable in the form of a Straight Life 

Annuity, which provides a monthly benefit for your lifetime and no 

survivor benefits. PBGC's letter also informed you that when you 

decide to start receiving your benefits, PBGC would send you 

information about other benefit forms available to you. 

The determination letter also noted that you could start 

receiving your benefits either before or after the commencement 

dates shown above, and that the monthly benefit amounts would be 

decreased if you choose earlier commencement and increased if you 

choose later commencement. With the letter, PBGC included a 

~enefit Statement showing data used to calculate your benefit and 

also showing that PBGC had accepted the monthly Plan benefit 
amounts that TWA calculated. 

In your December 22, 2003 letter to the Appeals Board, you 

stated your appeal issue as follows: 

". . . TWAwrongfully and fraudulently terminated me in 1989. 1 went to arbitration on 

the matter and won. The decision copy is enclosed. They breached ttieir own contract and 

took nearly '4 years' to get the arbitrator to complete a decision in which I was offered 'full 

back pay'. To this day they have refused to pay me and are even trying to use bankruptcy 

as a way out. (It won't work - employees' back pay is payable 100%). 

However the award will show I was not notified of the full back pay until October 28,1992. 

and wasn't actually offered my job back until April of 1993. They still owe the pension 

amount that goes along with the back pay." 

At the request of the Appeals Department, PBGC1s IOD responded 

to your December 22, 2003 letter on March 26, 2004. IOD!s letter 

told you that the records PBGC received from TWA show "a 

termination date of 10/11/1989n and that there "is no documentation 

in your file that indicates that your employment was reinstated. 

We also do not have a record of any wages payable to you between 

the date of termination of employment and the plan freeze date in 

1992. " 

Your April 3, 2004 appeal letter restated the claims of your 

December 22, 2003 letter. You also noted a typographical error 

(4/9/1989) in PBGC'S December 22, 2003 response. 

Discussion 

PBGC provides pension insurance according to the Employee 

Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). If a 

plan sponsor is unable to support its pension plan, PBGC becomes 

trustee of the plan and pays pens,ion benefits as defined in the 

plan subject to limitations set by Congress under ERISA. 

Section 1.2(h) of the IFFA Plan's governing document defines 

earnings as follows: 

(1) "(h) 'Earnings' means the regular compensation paid to an Employee by 

the Company, including deferred regular monthly compensation contributed 

to a Code Section 401(k) cash or deferred plan, before deductions or 

withholding. excluding contributions by the Company to this or any other 

benefit plan; provided, however, that effective for Plan Years beginning on or 

after January I, 1989. Earnings in excess of $200,000 shall be disregarded. 

Such amount shall be adjusted at the same time and in such manner as 

permitted under Code Section 415(d). Notwithstanding the foregoing. 

compensation paid or accrued after December 31, 1992 shall not be taken 
into account under the Plan." 

Section 1.2(m) of the IFFA Plan's governing document defines 

an hour of service as follows: 

"(m) 'Hour of Service' means each hour-. . . 

(2) for which back-pay irrespective of mitigation of damages is either awarded 

an Employee or agreed to by the Company; . . ." 

Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Arbitration Award you submitted 

(Enclosure 1) indicate that your grievance regarding your discharge 

was "sustained" by the three-member arbitration panel's Neutral 

Referee, with one member dissenting and the other concurring. 

Paragriiphs 3 and 4 of the Arbitration Award clearly state that you 

"shall be reinstated to the position of Flight Attendant without 

loss of contractual benefits" and that you "shall be reimbursed for 

all wages lost between the date of (your) removal from active duty 

and (your) reinstatement pursuant to this award." 

Despite the explicit statements in Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the 

Arbitration Award, however, its Paragraph 5 says that you "shall be 

entitled to the remedial provisions of this award only so long as 

(your) seniority would otherwise have retained (you) on the active 

payroll." It is unclear from the electronic and paper data PBGC 

received from TWA why Paragraph 5 was included in the text of the 

award. It would seem to have been a simple matter to determine at 

the time of the award whether your seniority would otherwise have 

retained you on the active TWA payroll at the time of your 

discharge. 

Enclosure 2 is a copy of electronic data that PBGC received 

from TWA when the Plan terminated. Page 2 of Enclosure 2 shows 

that you were furloughed from your IAM Plan position on October 30, 

1983, and were rehired with a "seniority bridge" from furlough 

status on April 15, 1985 as a Cabin Attendant. Page 2 also shows 

four consecutive entries for "Discharge" on October 5, 1989, 

October 11, 1989, October 12, 1989, and April 19, 1993. 

The Appeals Board noted that it was TWA1s consistent practice 

to specify a "Furloughn entry when an employee's seniority would 

not retain the employee on TWA's active payroll. The Board noted 

that if your seniority would not have retained you on TWA1s active 

payroll on October 5, 1986, there would have been no need on TWA's 

part to discharge you. That is, TWA could have simply put you on 

furlough at that time. For that reason, the Board decided that 

Paragraph 5 of the Arbitration Award does not prevent you from 

receiving the remedial benefits of the Arbitration Award. 
ii The Appeals Board also found that while the Arbitration Award * required TWA to reinstate you as a Flight Attendant and give you 

back pay, nothing in the award required you to accept reinstatement 

in order to receive the back pay that the Arbitration Award gave 

you for the period between your discharge date and the date on 

which TWA offered you reinstatement. The Appeals Board found 

nothing in the records that TWA gave PBGC regarding whether or when 

TWA offered you reinstatement. You indicated in your December 2003 

letter that TWA offered you reinstatement in April of 1993. Since 

the last discharge entry in TWA1s electronic records is in April of 

1993, the Appeals Board has decided to accept your claim in that 

regard. 

As a result, the Appeals Board found that your benefits under 

the Plan should be recalculated to include the service you would 

have earned and the salary you would have earned from October 1989 

through the Plants freeze date (December 31, 1992) as if you had 

not been discharged. 

Decision 

Having applied Plan provisions and the Arbitration Award to 

the facts in this case, the Appeals Board granted your appeal by 

finding that PBGC should recalculate your benefit as if you had 

been continuously employed by TWA at your regular salary rate until 

April 19, 1993 in accordance with your Arbitration Award. 

When PBGC1s IOD receives a copy of this decision, IOD will 

send you a corrected determination letter consistent with this 

decision, which will include a new 45-day right to appeal. In the 

meantime, if you need more information about your benefit, please 

call the Customer Contact Center at 1-800-400-7242. 

Sincerely, 

Michel Louis 

Appeals Board Member 

Enclosures (2)