The clock struck midnight last night with no tentative agreement between Comair and its pilots’ union on the table.

But about 20 minutes later, the two sides came to terms.

Comair was prepared to impose $15.8 million in concessions at 11:59 p.m. Monday, if no agreement had been reached.

The deadline had already been extended once. The original deadline expired Friday night after the pilots’ union presented management at Comair with a new proposal. The airline extended the time limit, saying it needed time to study the new proposal.

But, you say, why are the pilots and the airline going through all this again. Didn’t these two already sign off on a concessionary agreement before?

Yes, they did.

But when the flight attendants okayed a deal in November that saw annual costs cut by $1 million less than had been requested by the airline — that put contracts already negotiated with the pilots and the mechanics up for grabs. The airline was successful in getting the mechanics to agree to a modified deal with the airline — the pilots would not go so quietly into the dark night.

Pilots at the airline now have until March 4 to ratify the deal. Pilots at the airline are represented by ALPA. If the pilot group does not vote to ratify the agreement, the airline will implement wage cuts and other concessions as per the recent U.S. Bankruptcy Court ruling.