The ratification of a collective bargaining agreement has been an element of Delta’s efforts to achieve a smooth integration when it acquires Northwest later this year.

The ratification of a collective bargaining agreement has been an element of Delta’s efforts to achieve a smooth integration when it acquires Northwest later this year.

United Airlines filed suit in federal court against its pilots’ union, asking it to stop pilots from engaging in slowdowns it said led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

United Airlines filed suit in federal court against its pilots’ union, asking it to stop pilots from engaging in slowdowns it said led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights.

Even as passengers grimace at each new charge the airlines impose, they have generally been sympathetic toward pilots and flight attendants — until recently.

In Idaho, the pilots and flight crews who cater to media chieftains, technology pioneers, Hollywood studio executives are treated to a party of their own.

The airline said it would cut its pilot and flight attendant ranks, joining a growing list of airlines that have reduced their work forces in the face of high fuel prices.

It’s summer. Air travel is bad. It’s getting even worse and won’t improve anytime soon. And there is absolutely nothing you or I can do about it. So chill.

On an overbooked flight, you might get asked to sit in the cockpit.

The National Transportation Safety Board cited sleepy pilots as a reason that a regional jet slid off a snowy runway in Traverse City, Mich., in April, 2007.