PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2015

General Discussion of Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits [Abstract]

PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

The following tables are consolidated disclosures of all domestic and foreign defined pension plans as described in the Corporation’s 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K.  

Pension Plans

The components of net periodic pension cost for the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:

	(In thousands)
	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
	2015			2014
Service cost	$	7,136		$	6,370
Interest cost	7,491			7,544
Expected return on plan assets	(13,679		)	(10,413		)
Amortization of prior service cost	155			158
Amortization of unrecognized actuarial loss	3,865			1,483
Net periodic benefit cost	$	4,968		$	5,142

During the three months ended March 31, 2015, the Corporation made $145.0 million in contributions to the Curtiss-Wright Pension Plan. In addition, contributions of $0.7 million were made to the Corporation’s foreign benefit plans during the three months ended March 31, 2015.  Contributions to the foreign benefit plans are expected to be $3.0 million in 2015.

Defined Contribution Retirement Plan

Effective January 1, 2014, all non-union employees who are not currently receiving final or career average pay benefits became eligible to receive employer contributions in the Corporation's sponsored 401(k) plan. The employer contributions include both employer match and non-elective contribution components, up to a maximum employer contribution of 6% of eligible compensation.  During the three months ended March 31, 2015 and 2014, the expense relating to the plan was $4.1 million and $3.9 million, respectively.  The Corporation made $8.7 million in contributions to the plan for the first quarter of 2015, and expects to make total contributions of $14.0 million in 2015.