Inside Report (6)

US airline pilots and air traffic controllers have dropped plans to disrupt service in the next few weeks. The Air Line Pilots Association had called for a nationwide work stoppage on or about March 1, complaining that its suggestions for safety improvements were not being heeded. But it has since won a promise that a presidential commission , rather than the Federal Aviation Administration, will decide one of the issues and that others will receive prompt attention when the new FAA chief is named.

The controllers had never specifically pledged a work stoppage; that would be illegal. But the FAA claimed to have evidence that such a plan was under way for sometime in February or March. Contract talks with the controllers organization began last week, however, and the FAA is no longer making dire predictions.