Delta Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, is the sponsor of the Delta Pension Plan ("Plan"). The Plan provides defined benefit retirement income to eligible employees in the United Kingdom. Pension retirement benefits to qualified employees are 1.67% of final salary per year of service upon reaching the age of 65 years. This Plan has no active employees as members at December 28, 2019.

The Company recognizes the overfunded or underfunded status of the pension plan as an asset or liability. The funded status represents the difference between the projected benefit obligation (PBO) and the fair value of the plan assets. The PBO is the present value of benefits earned to date by plan participants, including the effect of assumed future salary increases (if applicable) and inflation. Plan assets are measured at fair value. Because the pension plan is denominated in British pounds sterling, the Company used exchange rates of $1.269/£ and $1.308/£ to translate the net pension liability into U.S. dollars at December 29, 2018 and December 28, 2019, respectively. The net funded status of $140,007 at December 28, 2019 is recorded as a noncurrent liability.

Projected Benefit Obligation and Fair Value of Plan Assets—The accumulated benefit obligation (ABO) is the present value of benefits earned to date, assuming no future compensation growth.

As there are no active employees in the plan, the ABO is equal to the PBO for all years presented. The underfunded ABO represents the difference between the PBO and the fair value of plan assets. On October 26, 2018, the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom ruled that pension plans which offered guaranteed minimum pension ("GMP") benefits between 1990 and 1997 must ensure the benefit accrued between men and women were equal. The Company estimated the cost of GMP equalization at £9,500, which is being treated as a prior service cost at December 29, 2018.



	Projected Benefit Obligation			Plan Assets			Funded status
Fair Value at December 30, 2017	$	783,301		$	593,749		$	(189,552	)
Employer contributions	—			1,537
Interest cost	17,878			—
Prior service costs - GMP equalization	12,056			—
Actual return on plan assets	—			(32,120		)
Benefits paid	(28,207		)	(28,207		)
Actuarial (gain) loss	(95,480		)	—
Currency translation	(42,108		)	(31,423		)
Fair Value at December 29, 2018	$	647,440		$	503,536		$	(143,904	)



	Projected Benefit Obligation			Plan Assets			Funded status
Fair Value at December 29, 2018	$	647,440		$	503,536		$	(143,904	)
Employer contributions	—			18,461
Interest cost	16,923			—
Actual return on plan assets	—			86,081
Benefits paid	(20,769		)	(20,769		)
Actuarial (gain) loss	79,485			—
Currency translation	21,324			17,087
Fair Value at December 28, 2019	$	744,403		$	604,396		$	(140,007	)

Pre-tax amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) as of December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018 consisted of actuarial gains (losses):



Balance December 30, 2017	$	(168,250	)
Actuarial gain	44,760
Prior service costs - GMP equalization	(12,056		)
Currency translation gain (loss)	5,358
Balance December 29, 2018	(130,188		)
Actuarial gain (loss)	(10,839		)
Currency translation gain (loss)	(2,699		)
Balance December 28, 2019	$	(143,726	)

Assumptions—The weighted-average actuarial assumptions used to determine the benefit obligation at December 28, 2019 and December 29, 2018 were as follows:

Pension expense is determined based upon the annual service cost of benefits (the actuarial cost of benefits earned during a period) and the interest cost on those liabilities, less the expected return on plan assets. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets is applied to the fair value of plan assets. Differences in actual experience in relation to assumptions are not recognized in net earnings immediately, but are deferred and, if necessary, amortized as pension expense.



	2019			2018
Net Periodic Benefit Cost:
Interest cost	$	16,923		$	17,878
Expected return on plan assets	(20,000		)	(23,175		)
Amortization of prior service cost	513			—
Amortization of actuarial loss	2,051			3,046
Net periodic benefit expense (benefit)	$	(513	)	$	(2,251	)



Percentages	2019		2018
Discount rate	2.90	%	2.55	%
Expected return on plan assets	4.25	%	4.29	%
CPI Inflation	2.20	%	2.20	%
RPI Inflation	3.30	%	3.30	%

The discount rate is based on the yields of AA-rated corporate bonds with durational periods similar to that of the pension liabilities. The expected return on plan assets is based on our asset allocation mix and our historical return, taking into account current and expected market conditions. Inflation is based on expected changes in the consumer price index or the retail price index in the U.K. depending on the relevant plan provisions.

The Company completed negotiations with Plan trustees in 2019 regarding annual funding for the Plan. The annual contributions into the Plan are $17,132 (/£13,100) per annum as part of the Plan’s recovery plan, along with a contribution to cover the administrative costs of the Plan of approximately $1,700 (/£1,300) per annum.

The Plan, as required by U.K. law, has an independent trustee that sets investment policy. The general strategy is to invest approximately 50% of the assets of the plan in common stock mutual funds and diversified growth funds, with the remainder of the investments in long-term fixed income securities, including corporate bonds and index-linked U.K. gilts. The trustees regularly consult with representatives of the plan sponsor and independent advisors on such matters.

The pension plan assets are valued at fair value. The following is a description of the valuation methodologies used for the investments measured at fair value, including the general classification of such instruments pursuant to the valuation hierarchy.

Leveraged inflation-linked gilts (LDIs)—LDIs are a combination of U.K. government-backed securities (such as bonds or other fixed income securities issued directly by the U.K. Treasury) money market instruments, and derivatives combined to give leveraged exposure to changes in the U.K. long-term interest and inflation rates. These funds are expected to offset a proportion of the impact changes in the long-term interest and inflation rates in the U.K. have on the pension plan's benefit plan obligation liability. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using net asset value (NAV) for each investment.

Temporary Cash Investments– These investments consist of British pound sterling, reported in terms of U.S. dollars based on currency exchange rates readily available in active markets. These temporary cash investments are classified as Level 1 investments.

Corporate Bonds—Corporate bonds and debentures consist of fixed income securities issued by U.K. corporations. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using NAV for each investment.

Corporate Stock—This investment category consists of common and preferred stock, including mutual funds, issued by U.K. and non-U.K. corporations. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using NAV for each investment, except for one small holding that is actively traded (which is the level 1 investment).

Diversified growth funds - This investment category consists of diversified investment funds, whose holdings include common stock, fixed income funds, properties and commodities of U.K. and non-U.K. securities. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using NAV for each investment.

Secured income asset (SIA) funds - This investment category consists of holdings which will have a high level of expected inflation linkage. Examples of underlying assets classes are rental streams and infrastructure debt. Due to the private nature of these investments, pricing inputs are not readily observable. Asset valuations are developed by the fund manager. These valuations are based on the application of public market multiples to private company cash flows, market transactions that provide valuation information for comparable companies, and other methods. The fair value recorded by the Plan is calculated using NAV.

At December 31, 2019 and December 31, 2018, the pension plan assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis were as follows:



December 31, 2019	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Inputs (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Total
Plan assets at fair value:
Temporary cash investments	$	38,388	$	—	$	—	$	38,388
Corporate stock	—		—		—		—
Total plan net assets at fair value	$	38,388	$	—	$	—	$	38,388
Plan assets at NAV:
Leveraged inflation-linked gilt funds							123,637
Corporate bonds							97,638
Corporate stock							234,612
Secured income asset funds							110,121
Total plan assets at NAV							566,008
Total plan assets							$	604,396



December 31, 2018	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Inputs (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Total
Plan assets at fair value:
Temporary cash investments	$	61,040	$	—	$	—	$	61,040
Corporate stock	506		—		—		506
Total plan net assets at fair value	$	61,546	$	—	$	—	$	61,546
Plan assets at NAV:
Leveraged inflation-linked gilt funds							122,711
Corporate bonds							80,454
Corporate stock							183,750
Secured income asset funds							55,075
Total plan assets at NAV							441,990
Total plan assets							$	503,536