Don’t cut me, I’m not fat.

Last week I read and heard from a number of national media sources a story about the Pension Benefits Guarantee Corporation possibly refusing or rejecting a bankruptcy court judge’s decision to allow United Airlines to unload their pension plan, claiming in so many words they couldn’t afford to absorb that kind of cost.

I’m a recently retired Delta employee. That possible development scared and depressed me.

The Pension Benefits Guarantee Corporation is already underfunded. Republicans in Congress are looking for for fat to cut in order to reduce the budget deficit. The PBGC would be become a paper fiction if its funding were cut even more.

If my memory serves me, the Pension Benefits Guarantee Corporation was created by Congress after the Eastern Airlines/Frank Lorenzo tragedy. How could anybody familiar with the challenges of operating an airline, i.e., fuel costs, seriously consider cutting or underfunding this important social safety net?

William L. Gaskins
Tyrone, Ga.