Eastern reached an agreement with its machinists.

The Miami-based carrier settled tentatively with its largest union on a three-year contract two weeks before an April 15 deadline set by the carrier’s lenders. The agreement provides a 5% pay increase over last year’s levels starting Feb. 1, 6% on Feb. 1, 1986, 4% on Jan. 1, 1987, and 3% on July 1, 1987, said Charles Bryan, president of Machinists District 100, which represents 12,000 of Eastern Airlines’ employees. Both Bryan and Jack Johnson, Eastern’s vice president of human resources, said the union contract would please stockholders, workers and lenders. If Eastern fails to reach a final agreement with the union by the deadline, it will be in technical default of its loans.