american airlines , inc . notes to consolidated financial statements 2014 ( continued ) temporary , targeted funding relief ( subject to certain terms and conditions ) for single employer and multiemployer pension plans that suffered significant losses in asset value due to the steep market slide in 2008 . under the relief act , the company 2019s 2010 minimum required contribution to its defined benefit pension plans was reduced from $ 525 million to approximately $ 460 million . the following benefit payments , which reflect expected future service as appropriate , are expected to be paid : retiree medical pension and other .
what was the percentage decline in recorded international slot and route authorities to $ 708 million from $ 736 million as of december 31 , 2010 and 2009 , respectively .
during 2008 , amr recorded a settlement charge totaling $ 103 million related to lump sum distributions from the company 2019s defined benefit pension plans to pilots who retired . pursuant to u.s . gaap , the use of settlement accounting is required if , for a given year , the cost of all settlements exceeds , or is expected to exceed , the sum of the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic pension expense for a plan . under settlement accounting , unrecognized plan gains or losses must be recognized immediately in proportion to the percentage reduction of the plan 2019s projected benefit obligation . 11 . intangible assets the company has recorded international slot and route authorities of $ 708 million and $ 736 million as of december 31 , 2010 and 2009 , respectively . the company considers these assets indefinite life assets and as a result , they are not amortized but instead are tested for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired . such triggering events may include significant changes to the company 2019s network or capacity , or the implementation of open skies agreements in countries where the company operates flights . in the fourth quarter of 2010 , the company performed its annual impairment testing on international slots and routes , at which time the net carrying value was reassessed for recoverability . it was determined through this annual impairment testing that the fair value of certain international routes in latin america was less than the carrying value . thus , the company incurred an impairment charge of $ 28 million to write down the values of these and certain other slots and routes . as there is minimal market activity for the valuation of routes and international slots and landing rights , the company measures fair value with inputs using the income approach . the income approach uses valuation techniques , such as future cash flows , to convert future amounts to a single present discounted amount . the inputs utilized for these valuations are unobservable and reflect the company 2019s assumptions about market participants and what they would use to value the routes and accordingly are considered level 3 in the fair value hierarchy . the company 2019s unobservable inputs are developed based on the best information available as of december 31 .