Loral Chief Reassures Ford Unit on Pension Fund : Acquisition: Chairman says account will continue to be overfunded after Aeronutronic sale and that there are no plans to sell the Newport Beach division.

In his first visit here since Loral Corp. said it was acquiring Ford Aerospace, Loral Chairman Bernard L. Schwartz confirmed Friday that Ford Motor Co. will keep $100 million of its subsidiary’s surplus pension funds.

Talking with reporters after meetings with top Ford Aerospace executives and managers, Schwartz also said Loral will continue the Ford Motor Co. subsidiary’s pension plan. He reaffirmed that Loral doesn’t intend to sell off any Ford Aerospace operations and plans to keep the 2,700-employee Aeronutronic division in Newport Beach, despite speculation that the money-losing missile and electronic-sensor unit would be sold.

In another development, Donald L. Rassier, Ford Aerospace president and chief executive, said he will retire after completion of the sale, expected in October.

The fate of the Ford Aerospace pension fund has worried many of the company’s 17,000 employees and its pensioners, who fear that the sale could endanger benefits they have worked for years to attain.

But Schwartz reassured employees that the pension--estimated to have a surplus of at least $300 million--would continue to be overfunded by a “couple hundred million dollars” after the sale to the New York-based defense electronics firm is completed.

The transfer of the surplus funds to Loral and Ford Motor Co. has caught the attention of Defense Department investigators, who have launched a preliminary investigation to determine if the government is entitled to some of the money.

“I do not see anything threatening about” the preliminary investigation, Schwartz said. “We don’t think there was anything done here that gives rise to a government claim (on the excess assets). It’s not a source of concern for us.”

The pension surplus that Ford Motor Co. plans to keep is in addition to the $715 million that Loral is paying to buy Ford Aerospace.

Schwartz said Loral will retain nearly all of Ford Aerospace’s current benefits. One perk that will vanish, however, is the policy that allowed employees to lease Ford automobiles at favorable rates.

Some managers and supervisors who met with Schwartz said they were relieved by what they heard.

One mid-level manager at the Aeronutronic unit said Schwartz “dispelled a lot of fears that Loral would chop us up and throw us to the wind. We’re going to determine our own future in Newport Beach, and we like that.”

The manager said Schwartz eased fears that Loral would sell Aeronutronic before the defense unit had an opportunity to turn around its financial performance. He added that employees are taking a “wait-and-see” attitude on whether Schwartz comes through on his promises not to change any benefits.

Rassier, 61, who joined Ford Aerospace in 1985, said he may continue as a consultant for Loral. Ford Aerospace’s divisions will report directly to Frank Lanza, president and chief financial officer of Loral.

Rassier said he has planned to retire since January, when Ford Motor Co. announced that it was seeking a buyer for Ford Aerospace--a task the company internally dubbed “Project Bluebird.”

Schwartz said he plans to review some company operations for “strategic opportunities,” but he said that Loral intends to keep most operations intact.

The Loral chief said his company signed an eight-year sublease for the 99-acre property on which Aeronutronic is located. The land is worth $75 million and is owned by the Irvine Co. and leased to Ford Motor Co. at 1950s lease prices.

Schwartz said the lease rate on the land would rise to market levels by the sixth year of the sublease.