United and Pilots in Tentative Contract Deal

UAL Corp.’s United Airlines has secured a tentative contract agreement with its pilots, clearing a crucial early hurdle in its effort to make another round of painful labor cuts in bankruptcy protection without needing a court order.

The agreement makes the pilots the first of United’s four big unions to come to initial terms. All four have decried the airline’s latest proposed steep cutbacks but risk having the company’s terms imposed in Bankruptcy Court if they don’t reach a settlement.

Details were not disclosed by either the company or the union’s leadership, which will meet Thursday in Chicago to decide whether to ask pilots to ratify it.