American Airlines

Piling it on: Fitch downgrades Cook County

07/14/2014
Cook County residents got more bad news last week when Fitch Ratings, the global rating agency, downgraded Cook County’s debt to A+ from AA-. The rating agency cited skyrocketing pension costs as one of the key reasons for the credit downgrade. The most direct impact of the downgrade is higher borrowing costs for Cook County. Infrastructure and...

Fitch Ratings: Chicago approaching “inflection point”

11/12/2013
Triple-notch credit downgrades for government entities are supposed to be rare. They normally happen only in response to major financial events, such as a sudden fiscal emergency. But Chicago just received its second triple-notch downgrade in just six months. And that spells trouble for Chicago taxpayers. Citing skyrocketing pension costs and a lack of meaningful...

TAGS: Chicago, Chicago Park District, Detroit, downgrade, pensions

7 in 10 Fortune 100 companies provide only defined contribution, 401(k)-style retirement plans

By Benjamin VanMetre
07/25/2013
Suburban Chicago-based NorthShore University HealthSystem announced last month that it will “will freeze its employee pension plan as of Dec. 31 and shift all employees to a defined contribution savings plan.” The NorthShore hospital system isn’t the only private company making this move — Boeing, American Airlinesand Verizon each dropped their defined benefit plans for defined contribution retirement systems. The core...