"Five years ahead of its own bankruptcy in 2011, [American Airlines] ... had not yet frozen its workers' pension benefits. As a result, it was allowed to defer some of its contributions to its pensions ... The law allowed American's accountants to assume a faster rate of growth for assets in its pension funds, a move that meant it was required to set aside even less cash each year to be in good standing with its pension obligations.... Now the airline is seeking to amend the deal it struck in 2006 to extend that deadline by an additional seven years.... It wants Congress to make the change while allowing it to still use the more aggressive rate-of-growth assumptions that have helped reduce what it must contribute to the funds each year."  MORE >>