A pilots' union at the Dutch arm of airline Air France KLM said Wednesday it is prepared to sue the carrier if its demands for renewed talks on pension rises are not met. Europe's fifth-largest airline group has already faced industrial action by pilots and cabin crew at Air France and strike threats from ground staff and cabin crew at the Dutch unit. The Dutch Airline Pilots Association, which represents 98% of KLM's pilots, accuses KLM of reneging on a commitment made in a collective bargaining agreement to increase pension entitlements in line with inflation. KLM told the union the E600m cost of this was needed for other investments. "We admit that there are problems and we are prepared to talk," a union official said, confirming an earlier report in De Telegraaf newspaper, but said talks could only begin if KLM went back on its "unilateral" scrapping of indexation. "Right now, they want us to take a slap and then discuss things with them constructively," the official said. The union has given KLM an ultimatum to restore indexation by Friday. Air France KLM has faced industrial action and employee dissatisfaction as it struggles to bring down costs in the face of competition from European budget airlines and Middle Eastern carriers. A strike by pilots at Air France in June cost the company E40m, the company said, while a mooted week-long cabin crew strike would cost it E90m. The union official said there were no plans for KLM pilots to strike.<br/>
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Delta fliers faced delays, cancellations and more headaches Wednesday as the Atlanta-based airline struggled with its computer systems for the third straight day. Nearly 300 flights were cancelled by the afternoon, in addition to the 800 scrapped Tuesday and 1,000 cancelled Monday. Hundreds of other flights were delayed Wednesday. Delta said that it planned to resume "normal operations" by Wednesday afternoon but by 2 p.m. had yet to do so. Hundreds of thousands of passengers have been stranded overnight throughout the ordeal, many spending the night in airports around the globe. Others were put up in hotels by Delta, including 2,300 in Atlanta alone Tuesday night. The system the airline uses to check in and board passengers as well as dispatch its planes is still slow, Gil West, Delta's COO said Tuesday. The problems started early Monday when, according to a statement by West, critical piece of equipment failed at the airline's headquarters. It caused a loss of power and key systems and equipment did not switch over to backups as designed. Delta extended a travel-waiver policy to help stranded passengers rearrange their travel plans. It offered refunds and $200 in travel vouchers to people whose flights were cancelled or delayed at least three hours.<br/>