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United Airlines has been allowed to slip out of its contractual agreements to pay retirement benefits to its employees until death do them part.

Approved by a Federal Bankruptcy Court, United now won't have to pay retirement benefits to its flight attendants, pilots, mechanics, machinists, tarmac workers, baggage handlers, caterers, and administrative personnel.

Meanwhile, the pensions of United's top management remain alive and well.

A Chicago court okayed United's plan. Chicago is United's home base so the airline may have had a home court advantage. "This may be analogous to the way pro teams win more games when they play at home," says Diana Fairechild, an aviation expert witness and author, and a United retiree whose travel health web site, Flyana.com, was chosen several years ago by the NY Times as "One of twelve most creative Web sites."

Fairechild commented that "Flight safety is bound to get worse now as airline employees will be unable or unwilling to go the last mile for passengers. I have been watching this trend for a long time as employees have been required to put in longer hours while getting less pay. I have even testified in three cases where passengers died due to neglect from overworked flight attendants."

Fairechild believes the court should have required the following three stipulations before approving the pension default, and that these three stipulations could even be applied now.

STIPULATION 1. NO FAVORITISM

An airline must not be allowed to default on their contracts with some employee groups without defaulting on their contracts with all employee groups. The pension burden should be shouldered across the board and across the board of directors, too.

United's CEO, Glen Tilton, after successfully ridding United of its pension obligations on May 13, announced the next day that 'United's quality of service is now better than ever.' "Doesn't Tilton realize that the workers who just lost their pensions are the ones who provide this service? With a workforce of stunned and disgruntled employees," says Fairechild, "United's quality of service couldn't be better for passengers. Maybe Tilton meant better for himself, considering the $21.8 million he was paid to scorch United's employees, plus the additional mill he gets in salary every year."

STIPULATION 2. NO POLITICS

An airline in bankruptcy protection may not make political contributions. United has no right to subsidize politicians when it can't even come up with the money to pay its bills. "The last time I looked at United's legislative contributions," says Fairechild, "United was contributing significantly to both Democrats and Republicans for the same seats in the Senate and House!"

Fairechild relates that "Many years ago, the late Senator Patsy Mink of Hawaii was trying to help me with my workers comp case against United. United was denying that I got sick from being sprayed with pesticides in my workplace, their airplanes, and Senator Mink initially wrote a few letters for me to the Workcomp Board after I became too sick to fly. Then Senator Mink's interest in me stopped abruptly. Years later I saw that this was the exact time United began to regularly contribute to Mink's political campaign.

STIPULATION 3. NO ADVERTISING

An airline in bankruptcy protection should not be permitted to hire media consultants and spend money on advertising. Instead of portraying itself in ads as a company that cares, United could stop recirculating the toxic cabin air, for example, as a way to show it cares.

"Airborne diseases spread faster on board," says Fairechild, "because the plane's ceilings are low and the cabin air is recirculated. United can also show it cares by allowing passengers with contagious diseases to cancel without a penalty. Once someone with a contagious disease gets on an airplane, that disease is within 24 hours of every airport in the world!" Measles, SARS, meningitis, TB and the flu are examples of airborne diseases.

WHAT TO DO?

"The bottom line is that passengers are much more on their own than they used to be. You need to stay better informed and very alert so you can watch out for yourself."

ABOUT DIANA FAIRECHILD

Fairechild was hired by Pan Am in 1966 as an international flight attendant. In 1985, when Pan Am sold its Pacific routes to United, she was hired by United as a vested employee. In 1988, the illness Fairechild had acquired from onboard pesticides necessitated a long leave of absence that ended in her obligatory early retirement. Today Fairechild answers questions from readers on Flyana.com, writes books, and testifies in court as an expert witness.