United Airlines, pilots' negotiators reach tentative contract agreement 2 hours, 6 minutes ago = CHICAGO (AP) - Negotiators for United Airlines and its pilots' union have= reached a tentative agreement on a new contract, the union said Tuesday.= Details were not disclosed. = Related Quotes = DJIA NASDAQ S&P 500 10643.49 2155.39 1200.16 +5.17 +6.89 +1.48 = = = delayed 20 mins - disclaimer = Data provided by Reuters = = = The deal has yet to be approved by the union's leadership, which has sche= duled a meeting in Chicago on Thursday to decide. "We do have a tentative= agreement with the company," union spokesman Herb Hunter said. "Details = won't be released until after the MEC (master executive council) gets a c= hance to review it." = United did not immediately comment on the reported agreement. = The deal, if signed off on by union leaders and then ratified by rank-fil= e pilots, could help enable United to avoid a potentially devastating lab= our showdown. Difficult negotiations with unions representing the mechani= cs, flight attendants and ramp and public contact workers remain unresolv= ed, however. = The No. 2 U.S. airline, a unit of Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based UAL Corp.= , said this fall it needed to impose an additional $725 million in annual= labour cuts after already extracting $2.5 billion a year in concessions = last year. = On top of that, the company is moving to eliminate defined-benefit pensio= n plans as it seeks to become leaner and more competitive after losing mo= re than $9 billion in the past 4=BD years. = The airline has been seeking $191 million in annual savings from the pilo= ts' contract. = United has said it will ask to have the lower pay and new benefits struct= ure imposed by a bankruptcy judge if the unions don't agree to new contra= cts by mid-January. = Roger EWROPS