PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2015

General Discussion of Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits [Abstract]

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 and nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:



	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
(In thousands)	September 30,						September 30,
	2015			2014			2015			2014
Service cost	$	5,914		$	6,227		$	20,187		$	18,969
Interest cost	7,422			7,799			22,410			22,895
Expected return on plan assets	(13,601		)	(10,521		)	(40,968		)	(31,359		)
Amortization of prior service cost	151			157			462			472
Amortization of unrecognized actuarial loss	5,180			2,147			12,911			5,113
Settlement Charges	$	7,345		$	—		$	7,345		$	—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	12,411		$	5,809		$	22,347		$	16,090

During the nine months ended September 30, 2015, the Corporation made contributions of $145.0 million to the Curtiss-Wright Pension Plan and contributions of $2.3 million to the Corporation’s foreign benefit plans. Contributions to the foreign benefit plans are expected to be $3.0 million in 2015.

The settlement charges recognized in the third quarter of 2015 represent events that are accounted for under guidance on employers’ accounting for settlements and curtailments of defined benefit pension plans. The charge is primarily a result of the retirement of the Corporation’s former Chairman and his election to receive the nonqualified portion of his pension benefit as a single lump sum payout and relates to the recognition of deferred actuarial losses triggered by the lump sum payouts exceeding a prescribed threshold.

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 nine months ended September 30, 2015 and 2014, the expense relating to the plan was $9.6 million and $10.6 million, respectively.