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PENSION AND OTHER POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2016
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 2015 Annual Report on Form 10-K.  

Pension Plans

The components of net periodic pension cost for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015 were as follows:

 
Three Months Ended
 
Nine Months Ended
(In thousands)
September 30,
 
September 30,
 
2016
 
2015
 
2016
 
2015
Service cost
$
6,347

 
$
5,914

 
$
18,832

 
$
20,187

Interest cost
7,503

 
7,422

 
22,915

 
22,410

Expected return on plan assets
(13,462
)
 
(13,601
)
 
(40,633
)
 
(40,968
)
Amortization of prior service cost
(11
)
 
151

 
(34
)
 
462

Amortization of unrecognized actuarial loss
2,837

 
5,180

 
9,023

 
12,911

Settlement Charges
—

 
7,345

 
—

 
7,345

Net periodic benefit cost
$
3,214


$
12,411


$
10,103


$
22,347



During the nine months ended September 30, 2016, the Corporation made no contributions to the Curtiss-Wright Pension Plan, and does not expect to make any contributions in 2016. Effective May 1, 2016, the Corporation completed the merger of three frozen UK defined benefit pension schemes by merging the Metal Improvement Company Salaried Staff Pension Scheme and the Mechetronics Limited Retirement Benefits Scheme into the Curtiss-Wright Penny & Giles Pension Plan. The Penny & Giles Plan was then renamed the Curtiss-Wright UK Pension Plan.

In connection with the merger, the Corporation made an additional £3 million (approximately $4.4 million) cash contribution to the plan. The merger will benefit the Corporation by cost reduction achieved through streamlined advisor services and more efficient trust administration.

Scheduled contributions to the foreign benefit plans are not expected to be material in 2016.

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, 2016 and 2015, the expense relating to the plan was $8.9 million and $9.6 million, respectively. The Corporation made $10.4 million in contributions to the plan during the nine months ended September 30, 2016, and expects to make total contributions of $11.5 million in 2016.