A federal district judge on Wednesday denied a bid by flight attendants at United Airlines to block the government from assuming control of the group's pension plan.

Last month, a federal bankruptcy judge in Chicago approved an agreement between United and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) for the agency to take over the airline's four union pension plans that are underfunded by nearly USD$10 billion.

United said it cannot save enough money and successfully emerge from bankruptcy without terminating the plans. US Airways has taken the same step during its two turns through bankruptcy protection. The PBGC will guarantee USD$6.6 billion in benefits in the largest corporate pension default in US history.

The Association of Flight Attendants sought a preliminary injunction to halt termination proceedings on grounds that United violated law governing voluntary pension plan terminations. The group also asserted that federal pension insurers moved too quickly to assume control of the flight attendants plan, which covers 28,000 active and retired workers.

But District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said the flight attendants failed to meet the legal test for an injunction. Huvelle concluded that the PBGC has the authority to reach settlement agreements like the one struck with United in April and that the deal did not breech pension law.

"The court recognizes that United flight attendants have already given up much to do their part to help their employer emerge from bankruptcy and remain viable, and that they face the unfortunate and regrettable prospect of losing a significant portion of their pension benefits," Huvelle wrote in her decision. "But the court is constrained to conclude that the plaintiff is not entitled to the extraordinary relief that it seeks."