Oct 28 (Reuters) - Boeing ( BA ) workers' efforts to

restore the traditional pension plans it ditched a decade ago

feels to many like a long shot, as reinstating such a structure

could exacerbate the planemaker's shaky financial situation.

Bringing back the defined-benefit plans - where the pension

liability is primarily borne by the employer - will require a

major concession from the company, particularly as most

corporations have drifted away from this model.

Boeing ( BA ) has resisted attempts to restore the plan. Jon

Holden, the negotiator for the 33,000 Boeing ( BA ) workers on strike,

hinted after the union rejected the company's offer that workers

might be satisfied with an alternative.

"It does come down to potentially exploring other

defined-benefit options, which we are willing to do," he said on

Oct. 24 at a press conference.

The dispute highlights the delicate balancing act facing new

CEO Kelly Ortberg, who is tasked with bringing a quick end to

the crippling strike while avoiding overpromises.

Alternatives are more likely to look like

defined-contribution plans - which are an expense for a company

but do not add to its liabilities.

The United Auto Workers, in its strike against General

Motors ( GM ), Ford and Stellantis ( STLA ) last year,

managed to secure a generous increase in employer contributions

to 401(k) plans without requiring workers to provide to them

first.

"What the UAW ended up doing got them more of this

non-elective contribution without it being linked to

contributions from the employee," said Craig Copeland, director

of wealth benefits research at the non-profit Employee Benefit

Research Institute in Washington.

The 401(k) plans are one of the most popular forms of

retirement savings accounts in the U.S. and are funded both by

employers and employees.

EVOLVING LANDSCAPE

Defined-benefit plans promise a predetermined monthly payout

to retired employees, based on factors such as their wage and

years of service.

Companies have ditched that model and embraced

defined-contribution plans, which shift the responsibility of

building up a retirement nest egg on to employees.

Such plans do not guarantee a fixed income upon retirement.

Employees contribute to a retirement account and the eventual

payout depends on the money saved over time.

"Most employers for the last 30 years have been working very

hard to stop doing defined-benefit plans. It would be

extraordinarily rare to bring it back," said James Angel,

associate professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School

of Business.

The number of workers only on defined-benefit plans dwindled

to 18% by 2022 from 62% in 1983, according to the Center for

Retirement Research at Boston College.

The Big Three automakers ended their pension plans following

the 2008 financial crisis that nearly sent them into bankruptcy.

Boeing ( BA ) abandoned the structure in 2014 as part of a deal

with union machinists to build its 777X jetliner in Washington,

with an aim to curb "the unsustainable growth of our long-term

pension liability," the company said at the time.

The company referred Reuters to its early September

statement that a restart of the pension plan is not on offer.

The planemaker has burned cash through the first three

quarters of 2024 and its investment-grade credit rating is

currently at risk of being downgraded to "junk" status.

"With defined-benefit plans, liabilities have to be put on

the employer's balance sheet. Once that happens it changes the

dynamics of their profitability and potentially their credit

rating," said Copeland.

Still, experts said it was notable that the UAW and the

International Longshoremen's Association, which went on a strike

briefly in early October, tried to restore defined-benefit

plans.

"Unions are starting to incorporate that into bargaining

demands," said John Logan, labor professor at San Francisco

State University.

"Even though the UAW was unsuccessful, and the Boeing ( BA )

workers may also be unsuccessful, the issue is likely to come

even more to the forefront in union negotiations in the future."

(Reporting By Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; additional reporting

by Nora Eckert in Detroit and David Gaffen in New York; Editing

by Sriraj Kalluvila)