NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - If you have a bank account and your bank goes under, the government will swoop in to protect your cash. If you have a frequent flyer account and the airline goes under, then what?

That's the question facing members of Delta's frequent flyer program, which could become worthless if the airline's pilot union decides to strike and halt its operation.

If Delta pilots strike and the airline goes under, frequent flyer miles could be lost.

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The world's second-largest airline filed for bankruptcy in September of last year, and assured customers that their frequent flyer miles would be honored as usual.

But now Delta's Air Line Pilots Association has said that if it doesn't get a favorable ruling from an arbitration panel looking at its contract, it intends to strike, which could mean the airline would have to halt operations permanently - and frequent flyer miles could evaporate into thin air.

The deadline for the panel is Saturday, April 15. But it's not likely to announce a decision until after the holiday weekend.

"There are a number of different ways it might play out," said Tim Winship, publisher of FrequentFlier.com. "If Delta were to liquidate, that would probably work out okay for consumers as far as frequent flyer miles, based on historical precedents."

Three major airlines - TWA, Eastern and Pan Am - have gone out of business since the inception of frequent flyer programs in 1981, Winship said. And all three have had their frequent flyer programs acquired by other airlines, he said. American, for instance, integrated TWA's miles into its own program without a hitch in 2001.

"From a marketing standpoint, it makes sense to acquire the frequent flyer program," said Winship. "To the extent that American was acquiring some of TWA's routes, it was a way for American to ensure that those customers would transfer their allegiance."

So in that case, it would make sense to hold onto Delta miles rather than try to redeem them quickly. No sense in booking a hasty flight on a date you don't want if another carrier will soon honor the miles over the same route.

But Virginia-based Independence Air had a different scenario -- when the company liquidated in early 2006, nobody wanted to buy its small frequent flyer program, and the miles evaporated, said Winship.

"Independence's program was not big enough to be of significant interest to another airline. It had everything to do with the size of the program," he said.

But if nobody goes for buying Delta's massive program, what recourse do frequent flyers have?

In that case, people should act fast to redeem the miles, said David Stempler of the Air Travelers Association.

Points.com will allow users to transfer miles between several airlines, including Alaska, America West, Frontier, Hawaiian, Midwest and US Airways.

Or miles holders could go to Delta's site to exchange them for rewards with sturdier financial prospects, said Stempler, such as hotel rooms.

Miles holders can also redeem points across the airlines of the SkyTeam alliance.

The alliance, which Delta helped found in 2000, is a partnership between nine airlines across three continents. In the United States, SkyTeam also includes Northwest and Continental airlines.

Like most programs, Delta SkyMiles does not allow members to sell or barter miles.

Otherwise, you can try booking a future Delta flight, in the hopes that another airline will honor the airline's future tickets.

"If you had a ticket in hand, then there's a chance that another airline would honor that ticket," says Winship. "It would certainly be on a space-available basis and they'd probably charge a fee."

But the experts all agree that if you think there's a risk, you have to get moving immediately. And there are no guarantees.

"People didn't pay for these miles. These are loyalty points," said Stempler. "People seem to think they have some dollar amount invested there and they don't."

It boils down to the fact that miles are a much more tenuous asset than they're made out to be.

"One of lessons of recent years is that frequent flyer miles are a somewhat risky proposition," said Winship. "The best way to hedge against that risk is to get out of the hoarding mode that many people are in and get into a mode where they are redeeming their miles on an ongoing basis."

"We've seen a gradual decline in value of miles - for instance, they're harder to redeem," he said. "It only makes sense to use them sooner rather than later."

Asked what would happen to the miles, a Delta spokesman said, "Delta is committed to reaching an agreement with the pilots. There have been many negotiations that have come down to the wire, including Northwest just a few weeks ago. They were facing an almost identical situation, and they reached an agreement."

"We've told our customers to book on Delta with confidence," he said.

Delta flies more than 300,000 passengers a day on about 1,700 daily flights.

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