Master Executive Council

August 2010 - The open enrollment process and ongoing benefit concerns have negatively impacted many of our fellow members and retirees and AFA representatives have worked tirelessly to ensure these issues were remedied. However, after months of insufficient response from management, we have taken an additional proactive measure and have filed a report with the U.S. Department of Labor.  To read our complete filing to the DOL, click HERE. 

Your MEC continues to hear your frustration during the 2010 Open Enrollment season. We understand this year’s benefits packages bring more choices than ever to Open Enrollment, though not necessarily more detailed information to accompany those choices.  We continue to press the Company for answers to the difficult questions you have brought forward, and for more specific plan information so that we can make informed decisions about this vitally important issue.  We sat down with our AFA-CWA Senior Benefits Attorney Mary Lou Savage for her expert opinion.  We think you will find Mary Lou’s comments to be straightforward and helpful as you navigate the limited information available to us.

14 November 2009 - Letter & Enrollment Extension for Affected Retirees (VEBA Credit Issue): 2010_Enrollment_Extension_Letter_For_Impacted_Retirees_-_VEBA.pdf
13 November 2009 - Due to ongoing complications for our retirees in the 2010 benefit enrollment process, Delta has finally responded with this FAQ: 2010_Retiree_Benefits_Enrollment_FAQs.PDF”

Read 11/6/09 Delta Benefits’ Response to some of our most frequently asked enrollment questions.  IMPORTANT: FOR ALL THOSE OF US HAVING PROBLEMS WITH ENROLLMENT, YOU MUST REPORT THE ISSUE DIRECTLY TO DELTA BENEFITS IN ORDER TO GET A CASE NUMBER.  Please consider copying in your local AFA representatives so that we can keep track of all issues as well. 

28 October 2009 - Please click HERE for a list of our latest 2010 Benefit/Enrollment questions and issues that AFA representatives have submitted to Delta management, on behalf of active and retired pre-merger NWA flight attendants. 

MEC Hotline - Special Editions:
Part 1: 2010Benefits1.pdf    Part 2: 2010Benefits2.pdf
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NOTE: October 29, 2009 - Delta management has made assurances they would honor our contractual retiree benefit eligibility for perspective 2010 retirees, even if members don’t elect the contractual PPO Option B for 2010.  Today Delta stated that they will not put this in a legally binding letter of agreement.  Please be aware that if you plan to retire in 2010, our contract only requires the company to provide subsidized retiree benefits if you are signed up for the contractual medical plan (PPO Option B) on the date of retirement.
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Package 1: Delta’s Non-Contract Options - NOTE: if you elect this package, you will lose your right to many of the NWA AFA CBA Section 29 - Insurance provisions, such as eligible dependents, family continuation coverage, higher age limits for children, no lifetime maximum limit, and the NWA Contract Retiree medical coverage.

The options in “Package 1” include the non-contract PPO Option A, Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).  The HRA and HSA are also called “Account Based Health Medical Options”.  While the options in “Package 1” may make sense for some of our members and we respect your ability to decide what works best for you, we want to be clear that “Package 1” does not provide the same coverage and eligibility as in Section 29 - Insurance of our contract.  There is a $5 million lifetime cap on the non-contract options in “Package 1” - which carries over from year to year and from plan to plan.  By choosing Package 1 you will lose your right to many of the provisions in Section 29 - Insurance of our contract. 

Package 2: Section 29 - Insurance, NWA AFA Collective Bargaining Agreement

The options in “Package 2” begin with “PPO Option B” and include the covered services and eligibility as outlined in Section 29 - Insurance of the NWA AFA Collective Bargaining Agreement, with the addition of access to United Health Care (UHC) programs (URN, Centers of Excellence, Healthy Pregnancy, etc).  This plan most closely matches the one currently in place at NWA for flight attendants, with an administrator change from BCBS in 2009 to UHC for 2010.

Please review Section 29 of our contract and the Summary Plan Descriptions on RADAR for more information about the NWA Contract PPO Option B plan and all other NWA Contract benefit plans. Highlights of the negotiated NWA Contract Plan are:

  *no lifetime maximum benefit
  *full-time student children covered until age 26
  *NWA retirees are eligible for subsidized coverage under this plan
  *deductible max of $350 ind/$700 family
  * family coverage for spouse & children of a deceased flight attendant at active employee rates
  *out of pocket max of $2,000 ind/$4,000 family
  *in-network covered at 80/20
  *out-of-network mainly covered at 70/30
  *prescription drug out-of-pocket max of $1,000
  *generic drugs $15/preferred brand drug $30/non-preferred brand $45
  *Medco by Mail option for 90 day prescription supply at even lower cost

These and many more legally binding benefit provisions are available only to those who choose the NWA AFA Contract Plan “PPO Option B”. 

If you have any questions about your NWA AFA contractual benefit options, please review Section 29 - Insurance.  If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact your Local AFA representatives at any time.