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What does to mean in a newspaper headline, for example:

Airline XY to cut cost of pilots' wages

Is it a shorter form of "Is going to" or "Is planning to"?

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+1: I asked myself this question a lot when I started learning english. –  René Nyffenegger Apr 19 '12 at 20:57

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up vote 7 down vote accepted

Yes. Normally it can be interpreted as "is going to" or "has decided to". In headlines, that construction usually indicates that something will happen; a decision has been made.

There is a construction "Airline XY is to cut costs" which means the same thing. All the headline subeditor has done is to remove the verb "is" (as they often do).

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