Postretirement Benefit Plans

6 Months Ended

Jun. 26, 2011

Postretirement Benefit Plans

Postretirement Benefit Plans

NOTE 7 – POSTRETIREMENT BENEFIT PLANS

The net pension cost and the net postretirement benefit cost related to our qualified defined benefit pension plans and our retiree medical and life insurance plans include the following components:

	Quarter Ended						Six Months Ended
	June 26, 2011			June 27, 2010			June 26, 2011			June 27, 2010
	(In millions)
Qualified defined benefit pension plans
Service cost	$	244		$	226		$	487		$	451
Interest cost		479			469			959			938
Expected return on plan assets		(508	)		(507	)		(1,016	)		(1,014	)
Amortization of prior service cost		21			20			41			41
Recognized net actuarial losses		220			149			440			298
Total net pension expense	$	456		$	357		$	911		$	714
Retiree medical and life insurance plans
Service cost	$	8		$	9		$	16		$	18
Interest cost		40			41			81			82
Expected return on plan assets		(35	)		(32	)		(70	)		(64	)
Amortization of prior service cost		(4	)		(4	)		(8	)		(8	)
Recognized net actuarial losses		9			7			17			13
Total net postretirement expense	$	18		$	21		$	36		$	41

Based on our known requirements as of June 26, 2011, approximately $1.0 billion of contributions related to our qualified defined benefit pension plans are expected to be required in 2011. We made $325 million in contributions to those plans during the quarter and six months ended June 26, 2011. We plan to make additional contributions of $975 million this year, inclusive of required amounts, for a total of $1.3 billion. We also may review options for further voluntary contributions in 2011. We do not expect any contributions to be required related to the retiree medical and life insurance plans in 2011.