United Air’s Pilot Accord Is Blocked

United Airlines lost a key court ruling when its agreement with pilots was thrown out Friday, but the carrier achieved last-minute negotiating breakthroughs with two other unions to postpone an awkward courtroom showdown over its push for new labor contracts.

The developments brought mixed progress for the nation’s No. 2 airline in its efforts to slash labor costs.

Judge Eugene Wedoff of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago dealt United a setback by rejecting a five-year deal with the pilots that he said would “unduly tilt the bankruptcy process.” The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a federal agency, had opposed the deal.

After negotiating throughout the day to avoid a hearing on its bid to cancel its contracts with mechanics and flight attendants, United announced a tentative pact with the mechanics’ union and said it was on the verge of a similar pact with flight attendants. Details were not disclosed.

Company executives said they intended to meet with the flight attendants through the weekend in hopes of nailing down a deal that would result in the hearing’s being called off.

United’s chief financial officer, Jake Brace, called it “overall a productive day” despite the adverse verdict on the pilots’ deal.

A spokesman for the mechanics union declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the flight attendants’ union said any deal needed member ratification.