Delta Air Lines Inc., the largest U.S. carrier in bankruptcy, won court approval to give retired pilots at least $77 million in claims in return for terminating their pension plan. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Adlai Hardin on Tuesday authorized Delta to pay about 3,600 retired pilots $9 million in cash for benefits accrued under one of the airline's pension plans. The pilots will receive an unsecured claim for the rest, valued at about $68 million as of Tuesday. "Delta faced a choice: We could either keep fighting through various courts and pay $9 million to the lawyers, or pay $9 million to the retirees who are really suffering," Marshall Huebner, Delta's lawyer, said at a hearing in White Plains, N.Y. "We'd rather give it to Delta people who were injured economically." DP3, a nonprofit corporation that represents about 2,800 retired Delta pilots, agreed to the proposal in June.