Trickery getting airmen in court (5)
I believe the answer is:
craft
'trickery' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'airmen in court' is the wordplay.
'airmen' becomes 'raf'.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'court' becomes 'ct'.
'raf' inserted into 'ct' is 'CRAFT'.
'getting' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for craft that I've seen before include "It requires special skill" , "Art; ship" , "Possibly a tramp or drifter's" , "Boat - mastery" , "Creative activity" .)