Delta Air Lines Could Face Class of 163 in Pension Cut Dispute

A lawsuit accusing Delta Air Lines Inc. of wrongly shorting the pensions of Northwest Airlines retirees who received workplace injury settlements should be certified as a class action covering 163 people, retirees told a federal judge in Minnesota.

The Northwest retirees were harmed by Delta’s “across the board” policy of reducing the pension benefits of workers who received one-time, lump sum payments on account of on-the-job injuries, Timothy Leighton said Thursday in a motion for class certification. Because Delta interprets the pension plan’s offset provision uniformly, “this suit can resolve the claims of the entire class in a single stroke,” ...