Charman

In .this action, originally filed in a state court, appellants, dismissed employees of appellee, Pan American Airways, have complained that their dismissal constituted a breach of contract. Diversity of citizenship enabled removal to the District Court for the Northern District of California where a trial by court, sitting without a jury, resulted in judgment for the defendant on several grounds. We find it necessary to consider only one of these grounds and the facts relevant thereto.

Contractual obligation is alleged to have resulted from representations originally made by Pan American at about the time appellants, already employed by Pan American in ground operations, were transferred to flying duty as “non-pilot navigators”. Later the representations were restated by Pan' American in somewhat more precise language to the effect that appellants would be reemployed with certain status in the communications department if the non-pilot navigator positions should be abolished. The parties disagree sharply whether these representations were part of any bargain and whether appellants in fact relied upon them.

One defense was that, whatever legal consequences might otherwise be…