Delta boosts claims from retired pilots
Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation’s No. 3 carrier, said Monday it has agreed to give its retired pilots an extra $719 million in unsecured claims in its bankruptcy case to help them recoup losses from the termination of the pilot pension plan.
The agreement, which has the support of Delta’s official committee of unsecured creditors, would increase the retired pilots’ unsecured claims to roughly $800 million if approved by the bankruptcy court in New York.
What retired pilots actually receive from those claims to bolster their lost retirement benefits won’t be known until Atlanta-based Delta emerges from Chapter 11. That’s because unsecured creditors generally only get a fraction of what they are owed.
The retired pilots claims are separate from a $2.1 billion unsecured claim Delta’s active pilots negotiated as part of a concessions agreement reached in April, Delta spokeswoman Betsy Talton said.
The Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents Delta’s active pilots, is a member of the creditors’ committee.
“ Wal-Mart will make its $4 generic prescription plan available in 11 more states Tuesday, expanding the program to all of its 3,810 pharmacies nationwide.
Wal-Mart started the discount program in Florida in September and had expected to expand it in January, but instead followed a faster timetable and expanded it to each pharmacy it operates in the United States.
Effective Tuesday, joining the program will be 811 pharmacies in Colorado, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
Wal-Mart also has expanded the plan to include 331 generic prescriptions available for up to a 30-day supply.
Retailing rivals such as Target and BJ’s Wholesale Club have launched similar programs.
“Monster Worldwide Inc., a leading provider of online help-wanted advertising, announced partnerships with four newspaper publishers Monday, expanding its base of advertising-sharing arrangements with traditional media companies.
The news comes one week after Yahoo Inc. announced a broader arrangement with more than 150 newspapers in which Yahoo’s HotJobs site — a rival to Monster — will work together with the newspapers on classified employment advertising.
Under the new deals, Monster will build and maintain job-search Web sites for its for new newspaper partners and also integrate the listings with its global recruitment database.