30 Years Ago Today: Eastern Air Lines Ceases Operations
January 17, 1991
https://simpleflying.com/eastern-air-li ... years/amp/

cynlb wrote:

30 Years Ago Today: Eastern Air Lines Ceases Operations -- January 17, 1991

Courtesy: Airways Magazine

Today In Aviation - Eastern Air Lines Is Dissolved

https://airwaysmag.com/today-in-aviation/eastern-air-lines-is-dissolved/

I remember the date well. I was living in Miami at the time and knew several people that worked at Eastern. I also flew on them quite often when they were still covering South America. Sad to see them go although they had become quite a lousy airline over the years. I used to see X-Eastern employees working with AA at the ticket counters and on the fights from MIA after Eastern was gone.

I remember this day thirty years ago very well. I was sad they didn't make it as Martin Shugrue , who was put in charge by the bankruptcy court, really seemed like the right person for the job. Once Lorrenzo and Texas Air were out of the picture the striking employees wanted to come back. I feel like if the court had put Shugrue in place a year earlier Eastern would have survived. Whether they still would be around today or if they would have limped along like TWA for another ten years I do not know.

Eastern is why I fell in love with aviation. Many trips as a kid to Florida from EWR, LGA and Kennedy. I flew on Eastern 757s 2x, L1011s 3Xs multiple 727s and I think the A300 but my memory is not clear on the A300. I definitely flew on many former EA A300s on CO.

A very cold vacation with my Dad and Brother Miami was my last trip on Eastern which was LGA-MIA (L1011) DEC 1989 and return MIA-EWR (757) January 1990. I made sure to take tons of photos around Miami, it was my first and only time seeing their DC-10s in person (although I probably saw them a ton of times in CO colors at EWR).

Eastern had the coolest fleet and the best hubs (DC-9s, 727s, 757s, L1011s, A300s, DC-10s) BOS, LGA, JFK, EWR, PHL, DCA, ATL, CLT, IAH, MCI, MIA, SJU, the Northeast Shuttle and their own attraction as the "Official Airline of Walt Disney World" .

My respect to all their employees, especially those so greatly impacted by the strike in March of 1989 and their shutdown this day in 1991.

My first ever flight was on an Eastern 727 FMY-ATL Summer 1976. Fond memories of both the airline and airliner indeed...

Hard to believe it's been 30yrs. Wow. As a travel agent, we loved EA...they were generous with free tickets and upgrades to F.
I flew them several times in the space of ~1984 to 1988 when they were still pretty good. The MCI hub was great, used it twice.

Stt757, the DC10’s you mention as CO at EWR did not come from EA. The 3 DC10’s EA had I believe came from AZ.

STT757 wrote:

Whether they still would be around today or if they would have limped along like TWA for another ten years I do not know.

EA came fairly close to limping along with TWA if Icahn and Lorenzo could have finalized the proposed deal. IIRC South America had already been sold to AA when the Icahn/Lorenzo sale talks were happening, but if a TWA/Eastern combo could have happened with South America included that would have been a most interesting turn in airline history.

Seat1F wrote:

I remember the date well.

I also remember January 17, 1991 well. But only because it was the start date of Operation Desert Storm.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War

Eastern Airlines operated before I started my aviation hobby. At least it is interesting to read about the history of this company. But to call a Boeing 727 Whisperjet?

Well, Eastern is back. 762s, 763s, 772s, 773s, and soon 744s!

My last 727 flight was on my last Eastern flight in 1987 when I flew an IAH-LGA round trip to attend my brother's graduation from Columbia University.

MartijnNL wrote:

Seat1F wrote:

I remember the date well.

I also remember January 17, 1991 well. But only because it was the start date of Operation Desert Storm.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War

Eastern Airlines operated before I started my aviation hobby. At least it is interesting to read about the history of this company. But to call a Boeing 727 Whisperjet?

Ah, but compared to its piston-powered predecessors as well as to a lesser extent, the 707, DC-8, and CV-880, the cabin noise in the 727 was a "whisper"...so long as you sat over or ahead of the wing.

[quote="Seat1F" they had become quite a lousy airline over the years.[/quote]

I wondered how quickly that sentiment would be expressed. That was my mid-80s recollection. Props to trying A300s for freight/passengers without checked bags as the Moonlight Shuttle.


viewtopic.php?t=248589

People forget but Texas Air took a lot from Eastern and moved it to CO: SystemOne (Reservations System), "OnePass" (CO's Frequent Flyer Program until merging with UA), some of their regional carriers, and quite a few of their A300s which stayed with CO until the mid-1990s. I'm not sure but CO might've acquired some of their 727s and DC-9s as well.

The end of Eastern came because two giant played chicken and their egos made tens of thousands loose their jobs. Frank Lorenzo and the late Charles Bryan. Bryan quickly left Miami and moved a few hundred miles north to the Villages near Orlando, The Villages is a well known retirement community.

Eastern was in a difficult spot since its route system was made of so many leisure destinations. Deregulation flooded Florida so EA had to deal with Cheap fares and high unionized expenses. Eastern was never a business airline like AA and UA with Transcon flights between The Northeast and California. Eastern ended under very sad circumstances, If Texas Air hadn't stripped them who knows.

Eastern doesn't seem to trigger the same good memories as TWA and Pan Am. I'm too young to have experienced any of them for myself but I frequently hear people say how much they miss Pan Am and TWA. It seems Eastern was ready for its demise as I don't get the feeling the were every any good at any point in history. I heard they had a lot of employees with very bad attitudes.

Did China copy airline names from the US? You have China Eastern, China United, etc. China Eastern started after Eastern ceased operations.

TTailedTiger wrote:

Eastern doesn't seem to trigger the same good memories as TWA and Pan Am. I'm too young to have experienced any of them for myself but I frequently hear people say how much they miss Pan Am and TWA. It seems Eastern was ready for its demise as I don't get the feeling the were every any good at any point in history. I heard they had a lot of employees with very bad attitudes.

Eastern doesn't bring great memories since they never flew to exotic European or Pacific destinations. Pan Am was all about the exotic destinations. TWA had more then their share of exotic places too.

jfk777 wrote:

TTailedTiger wrote:

Eastern doesn't seem to trigger the same good memories as TWA and Pan Am. I'm too young to have experienced any of them for myself but I frequently hear people say how much they miss Pan Am and TWA. It seems Eastern was ready for its demise as I don't get the feeling the were every any good at any point in history. I heard they had a lot of employees with very bad attitudes.

Eastern doesn't bring great memories since they never flew to exotic European or Pacific destinations. Pan Am was all about the exotic destinations. TWA had more then their share of exotic places too.

Not exactly true as EA did fly MIA-LGW in the 1980s on D10s and also had an exclusive International First Class Product in the 1980s on their South America routes.

TTailedTiger wrote:

Eastern doesn't seem to trigger the same good memories as TWA and Pan Am. I'm too young to have experienced any of them for myself but I frequently hear people say how much they miss Pan Am and TWA. It seems Eastern was ready for its demise as I don't get the feeling the were every any good at any point in history. I heard they had a lot of employees with very bad attitudes.

I think it depends on what era you might've heard tidbits from. EA had a lot of labor issues throughout the 1980s (arguably the worst compared to Pan Am and TWA) and I've definitely heard many Baby Boomers on the East Coast say that they were never all that great. Pan Am was definitely higher quality than Eastern but many knew they were just buying time to survive especially after PA 103 (arguably the nail in the coffin.) TWA had a bit of a renaissance in the mid/late 1980s but it's reputation got tarnished by Carl Icahn in the early 1990s which they never properly recovered from.

jfk777 wrote:

TTailedTiger wrote:

Eastern doesn't seem to trigger the same good memories as TWA and Pan Am. I'm too young to have experienced any of them for myself but I frequently hear people say how much they miss Pan Am and TWA. It seems Eastern was ready for its demise as I don't get the feeling the were every any good at any point in history. I heard they had a lot of employees with very bad attitudes.

Eastern doesn't bring great memories since they never flew to exotic European or Pacific destinations. Pan Am was all about the exotic destinations. TWA had more then their share of exotic places too.

Depends on your definition of exotic, they were big in Latin america/Caribbean....

Here's an interesting video, "The Battle for Eastern Airlines" from 1989-
https://youtu.be/uRbfmLC_Nnc

I always appreciated the fact that Eastern used to tout the fact that "more passengers have flown Eastern than any other airline in the free world."

cynlb wrote:

Here's an interesting video, "The Battle for Eastern Airlines" from 1989-
https://youtu.be/uRbfmLC_Nnc

Here's a better quality and complete version of that video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1oQQowmNww

Ziyulu wrote:

Did China copy airline names from the US? You have China Eastern, China United, etc. China Eastern started after Eastern ceased operations.

And China Southern!

I have very fond memories of EA; my experiences with their team members were that they really cared about their company and wanted to provide excellent service. Growing up in New Orleans in the 1980s, EA had a sizeable operation at MSY. Their customer service agents there were consistently the most welcoming to me as an airliner enthusiast, allowing flight deck visits and the opportunity to spend a few minutes on the ramp photographing on spotting visits. I only got to fly on them once, on a school trip MSY-ATL-BUF round trip, and everyone was very professional and even welcoming to 75 high schoolers . Around the same time, my parents were returning home from BDA on them, with the return flight delayed due to weather at PHL. My dad commented that the EA agent there was the most friendly, helpful agent he'd come across in many years of frequent travel; they were promptly re-routed via BOS and ATL and arrived home at a comparable time to their original arrival time.

EA is the airline of the past I miss the most, and I hope lots of their team members are still serving passengers on the air and at airports.

On a side note, I'm guessing AA has the largest contingent due to them obtaining the MIA hub? Are there any other carriers or airports with good numbers of EA alumni?

I’ve always liked Eastern’s choice for lounge name: The Ionosphere Club.

Much better than: Red Carpet Club, Admirals Club, Crown Room Club, Board Room.

N649DL wrote:

People forget but Texas Air took a lot from Eastern and moved it to CO: SystemOne (Reservations System), "OnePass" (CO's Frequent Flyer Program until merging with UA), some of their regional carriers, and quite a few of their A300s which stayed with CO until the mid-1990s. I'm not sure but CO might've acquired some of their 727s and DC-9s as well.

No 727’s went to CO from Eastern but quite a few A300’s, 3 DC10’s and several DC9-50 series were transferred over (the 50 series was not in the Cal fleet at the time)

RIP Eastern.

In 1986 I flew LAX to ATL. The flight had a movie and a meal. There were movie posters at the gate featuring the in flight movies. Coach had a PG movie and first had an R rated movie.
It was an A300. So much as excitement for young me on the A300. We got diverted to Alabama due to ATL weather, so the flight got very long and I got impatient. It's amazing what we remember. The crew on EA was very professional.

Didn't EA crash in Bolivia or Peru?

They were a classic like PA, TW, and EA too! But they flew to Latin America more than Europe so maybe less famous if you didn't live in the SE USA.

I loved the hockey stick logo and colours. Very classy.

I wish all the luck in the world to the new EA. It was so long ago it's irrelevant the name is a reboot.

I moved to the USA on my third Eastern flight and first (and ultimately so far only) Boeing 727 flight,SJU-ATL.

I also flew Eastern on SJU-SDQ on their L-1011.

Great memories!!

klwright69 wrote:

Didn't EA crash in Bolivia or Peru?

.

January 1, 1985 on a 727 in Bolivia...from what I heard, the bodies were never located but part of the fuselage was, a few years ago. And they made a movie about the crash.

Max Q wrote:

N649DL wrote:

People forget but Texas Air took a lot from Eastern and moved it to CO: SystemOne (Reservations System), "OnePass" (CO's Frequent Flyer Program until merging with UA), some of their regional carriers, and quite a few of their A300s which stayed with CO until the mid-1990s. I'm not sure but CO might've acquired some of their 727s and DC-9s as well.

No 727’s went to CO from Eastern but quite a few A300’s, 3 DC10’s and several DC9-50 series were transferred over (the 50 series was not in the Cal fleet at the time)

Ah that's what it was. There were definitely a few DC5s that went over from EA to NW as well and (briefly) to DL. I actually flew on one in 2011 on EWR-ATL.

Max Q wrote:

N649DL wrote:

People forget but Texas Air took a lot from Eastern and moved it to CO: SystemOne (Reservations System), "OnePass" (CO's Frequent Flyer Program until merging with UA), some of their regional carriers, and quite a few of their A300s which stayed with CO until the mid-1990s. I'm not sure but CO might've acquired some of their 727s and DC-9s as well.

No 727’s went to CO from Eastern but quite a few A300’s, 3 DC10’s and several DC9-50 series were transferred over (the 50 series was not in the Cal fleet at the time)

I believe only six A300s transferred from EA to CO, the rest of the A300s CO operated they acquired on their own. The three DC-10s did go to CO, and while AA got the MIA-Latin America routes CO got the NY-Latin America and Mexico routes. CO in 1987 launched JFK-MEX, JFK-ACA which were both formerly Eastern routes. They later moved them to EWR. CO used Eastern's NY-Latin America rights and launched EWR-BOG-UIO, EWR-PTY-GYE, and EWR-LIM which were former Eastern routes previously flown nonstop from JFK.

Also CO took over Eastern's LaGuardia hub, minus the Shuttle, and operated it for a year before selling it to US Air. CO operated LGA-ATL, BUF, FLL, RSW, SRQ, MCO, TPA, MIA, ALB, BDL, MHT, PVD, ORH along with CLE, DEN and IAH.

http://www.departedflights.com/LGA91p1.html

jfk777 wrote:

The end of Eastern came because two giant played chicken and their egos made tens of thousands loose their jobs. Frank Lorenzo and the late Charles Bryan. Bryan quickly left Miami and moved a few hundred miles north to the Villages near Orlando, The Villages is a well known retirement community.

Eastern was in a difficult spot since its route system was made of so many leisure destinations. Deregulation flooded Florida so EA had to deal with Cheap fares and high unionized expenses. Eastern was never a business airline like AA and UA with Transcon flights between The Northeast and California. Eastern ended under very sad circumstances, If Texas Air hadn't stripped them who knows.

Agreed. Bryan, it seems, was the one who took the brunt of the blame for EA's death because of the IAM strike, and while that was indeed IMHO beyond stupid and was the final stake thru the heart, Lorenzo was also to blame big-time, like a 50/50 split with Bryan. And of course, as usual, it's the employees that got totally screwed, including their pensions, while Lorenzo, and I'm sure to a somewhat-lesser degree, Bryan, went on just fine (or much better).

I also have to agree with your assessment of EA as not being a "business airline like AA and UA". Boil it down to bad management without any vision IMHO...they tried trans-con, but why couldn't they make it work? They tried a mid-con. hub (MCI) which had the potential to compete with others (such as AA @ DFW) but couldn't make that work either. Somebody upthread mentioned the "Moonlight Special" service they started, which was an innovative way to get ancillary revenue...why did that end? They should have kept it going and expanded it, it was a great competitive weapon against the likes of People Express and all the other el-cheapo $99 trans-con fare operators (World comes to mind).

In the end, it was bad management that killed EA...going back to Borman. They needed a Gordon Bethune-type and never got one.

My last flight on Eastern was from Miami to New York LGA. I was able to get a great fare for First Class. The front cabin of the 727-200 was full. I guess others were also taking advantage of the discounted tickets. There were THREE F/As taking care of us. The service was outstanding; the cabin crew did everything possible to take care of us and several times we were thanked for flying Eastern. A light deli sandwich lunch was served but to make it special, everything was presented from a rolling cart, the type other airlines might use for international First Class. Drinks were never allowed to go empty and ice cream was also served from the cart. The the F/As were cheerful, upbeat and always smiling. There was almost too much service for a 2 hour and 15 minute flight!

I will always remember this as one of the best flights I ever had. What makes this tale bittersweet is the fact that my trip was on January 16, 1991. I could not believe the news the following day when I learned Eastern had shut down. I know there has been much made of the toxic work atmosphere at Eastern but the crew on my flight obviously still loved their company and were true professionals to the end.

When I was hired in ‘84 it was about the same size, in passenger count and pilots, as AA. 284 planes, 4400 pilots. In regulated years, fully equal to any of true legacy carriers. But, under-capitalization, poor management and union relations took their toll. Bryan rolled Borman in negotiations in the early ‘80s and led to the sale of the airline. We had an amended ALPA pilot contract, literally written on the back of an envelope, signed by Borman. Lorenzo and his Texas Air henchmen, like Bates, Hicks just stole what they could and left the carcass. They all came from the Alfred Kahn/ Ted Kennedy deregulation crowd.

I only have one memory of Eastern as i was quite young at the time. It was probably early spring of 1990 and in one of the terminals at FLL (maybe the present Terminal 2?) I was flying NW and next to it was the EA counter. Now, NW facilities were nothing to brag about, but the EA counter looked absolutely moribund and straight out of the 70's. While there was a fairly long line at the NW counter, there was one agent and one pax at the EA counter (it was probably due to scheduling, but the fact that they had such a lull in ops at FLL during peak season meant something). If I recall correctly, their counter's back wall was covered in their dark blue colored shag carpeting and the eastern Logo was in white affixed over it.

I grew up in Detroit and honestly don't remember them as we always flew NW out of the Davey terminal. I don't recall going in the Smith Terminal at all until maybe a year or two after that (to pick up my dad on a short-lived ZK-operated AA codeshare flight from TVC). We flew into the Smith terminal in 1994 on USAir (originally routed DTW-BOS on NW and BOS-BDA on US, same on the return, but BDA-BOS segment was delayed so rebooked BDA-BOS-PHL-DTW all on US). So the first time I flew out of the Smith Terminal I think was 1998 when I flew DTW-CVG-HSV on DL.

This is interesting- Eastern Airlines TV Television Commercials - 1960s 1970s 1980s
https://youtu.be/Q-1-rEtxl5E

I was on one of the very last flights on January 19, 1991. I flew from CLE to ATL and was on my way to Daytona. When I arrived in Atlanta, I noticed all of the Northbound flights were being cancelled. I knew something was up. We were then told, that the evening southbound flights were going to go, but this was to be Eastern's last day of operations. I remember the shock and despair of the flight crew as I boarded the DC-9 for Daytona Beach. It was a very sad flight. The crew debated about whether they should go.. but decided it was best to finish their flight and not have "quit" prematurely. Hard to believe it has been 30 years.

Eastern’s poor reputation goes way back to the 1950s prop era when it held some prime monopoly routes and skimped on service. There was a WHEAL (We Hate Eastern Air Lines) group that got some publicity.
I started flying them in the mid 60s and thought they were quite ok. I used the hourly Shuttle often in the 70s and loved the convenience of a guaranteed seat, lining up at the gate, taking a number, and paying on board. They would rollout a second section or even a third if necessary.
They took a shot on entering the transcontinental market around 1980 or so on L 1011s that were very comfortable and the crews and service were great. It didn’t last long, but they gave it a good try.

N649DL wrote:

Ah that's what it was. There were definitely a few DC5s that went over from EA to NW as well and (briefly) to DL. I actually flew on one in 2011 on EWR-ATL.

Some of those DC9 - 50's came from Allegheny in a swap they did for 30's.

nomadic wrote:

My last flight on Eastern was from Miami to New York LGA. I was able to get a great fare for First Class. The front cabin of the 727-200 was full. I guess others were also taking advantage of the discounted tickets. There were THREE F/As taking care of us. The service was outstanding; the cabin crew did everything possible to take care of us and several times we were thanked for flying Eastern. A light deli sandwich lunch was served but to make it special, everything was presented from a rolling cart, the type other airlines might use for international First Class. Drinks were never allowed to go empty and ice cream was also served from the cart. The the F/As were cheerful, upbeat and always smiling. There was almost too much service for a 2 hour and 15 minute flight!

I will always remember this as one of the best flights I ever had. What makes this tale bittersweet is the fact that my trip was on January 16, 1991. I could not believe the news the following day when I learned Eastern had shut down. I know there has been much made of the toxic work atmosphere at Eastern but the crew on my flight obviously still loved their company and were true professionals to the end.

Didn’t Martin Shugrue make a big push near the end to attract business flyers, including updating the first class hard and soft product?

STT757 wrote:

Max Q wrote:

N649DL wrote:

People forget but Texas Air took a lot from Eastern and moved it to CO: SystemOne (Reservations System), "OnePass" (CO's Frequent Flyer Program until merging with UA), some of their regional carriers, and quite a few of their A300s which stayed with CO until the mid-1990s. I'm not sure but CO might've acquired some of their 727s and DC-9s as well.

No 727’s went to CO from Eastern but quite a few A300’s, 3 DC10’s and several DC9-50 series were transferred over (the 50 series was not in the Cal fleet at the time)

I believe only six A300s transferred from EA to CO, the rest of the A300s CO operated they acquired on their own. The three DC-10s did go to CO, and while AA got the MIA-Latin America routes CO got the NY-Latin America and Mexico routes. CO in 1987 launched JFK-MEX, JFK-ACA which were both formerly Eastern routes. They later moved them to EWR. CO used Eastern's NY-Latin America rights and launched EWR-BOG-UIO, EWR-PTY-GYE, and EWR-LIM which were former Eastern routes previously flown nonstop from JFK.

Also CO took over Eastern's LaGuardia hub, minus the Shuttle, and operated it for a year before selling it to US Air. CO operated LGA-ATL, BUF, FLL, RSW, SRQ, MCO, TPA, MIA, ALB, BDL, MHT, PVD, ORH along with CLE, DEN and IAH.

http://www.departedflights.com/LGA91p1.html

That's right about LGA. I forgot the new late 1980s terminal was intended to be Eastern's and instead went to USAir.

N649DL wrote:

STT757 wrote:

Max Q wrote:

No 727’s went to CO from Eastern but quite a few A300’s, 3 DC10’s and several DC9-50 series were transferred over (the 50 series was not in the Cal fleet at the time)

I believe only six A300s transferred from EA to CO, the rest of the A300s CO operated they acquired on their own. The three DC-10s did go to CO, and while AA got the MIA-Latin America routes CO got the NY-Latin America and Mexico routes. CO in 1987 launched JFK-MEX, JFK-ACA which were both formerly Eastern routes. They later moved them to EWR. CO used Eastern's NY-Latin America rights and launched EWR-BOG-UIO, EWR-PTY-GYE, and EWR-LIM which were former Eastern routes previously flown nonstop from JFK.

Also CO took over Eastern's LaGuardia hub, minus the Shuttle, and operated it for a year before selling it to US Air. CO operated LGA-ATL, BUF, FLL, RSW, SRQ, MCO, TPA, MIA, ALB, BDL, MHT, PVD, ORH along with CLE, DEN and IAH.

http://www.departedflights.com/LGA91p1.html

That's right about LGA. I forgot the new late 1980s terminal was intended to be Eastern's and instead went to USAir.

it's during their LGA hub days in 1991 that they launched their new Globe logo based on the Unisphere in nearby Flushing.

http://www.nywf64.com/airlines10.html

I flew them several times in the 80s… Terrible airline, disgruntled employees(I don’t blame them thanks to management), bad in flight service.

They were ready for the end long before 1991

STT757 wrote:

N649DL wrote:

STT757 wrote:

I believe only six A300s transferred from EA to CO, the rest of the A300s CO operated they acquired on their own. The three DC-10s did go to CO, and while AA got the MIA-Latin America routes CO got the NY-Latin America and Mexico routes. CO in 1987 launched JFK-MEX, JFK-ACA which were both formerly Eastern routes. They later moved them to EWR. CO used Eastern's NY-Latin America rights and launched EWR-BOG-UIO, EWR-PTY-GYE, and EWR-LIM which were former Eastern routes previously flown nonstop from JFK.

Also CO took over Eastern's LaGuardia hub, minus the Shuttle, and operated it for a year before selling it to US Air. CO operated LGA-ATL, BUF, FLL, RSW, SRQ, MCO, TPA, MIA, ALB, BDL, MHT, PVD, ORH along with CLE, DEN and IAH.

http://www.departedflights.com/LGA91p1.html

That's right about LGA. I forgot the new late 1980s terminal was intended to be Eastern's and instead went to USAir.

it's during their LGA hub days in 1991 that they launched their new Globe logo based on the Unisphere in nearby Flushing.

http://www.nywf64.com/airlines10.html

Ironic. Less than a year later, the new terminal was opened as the USAir terminal, and CO and their successor airline, United, have had nothing but a token presence in Queens since that day.

SFOThinker wrote:

Eastern’s poor reputation goes way back to the 1950s prop era when it held some prime monopoly routes and skimped on service. There was a WHEAL (We Hate Eastern Air Lines) group that got some publicity.
I started flying them in the mid 60s and thought they were quite ok. I used the hourly Shuttle often in the 70s and loved the convenience of a guaranteed seat, lining up at the gate, taking a number, and paying on board. They would rollout a second section or even a third if necessary.
They took a shot on entering the transcontinental market around 1980 or so on L 1011s that were very comfortable and the crews and service were great. It didn’t last long, but they gave it a good try.

A lot of labor relations poison was started by Captain Eddie—unions and him were like cats and dogs.

In retrospect Eastern airlines is an example of an organization's cult of personality risks and shortfalls. A parallel example could be GE. Rickenbacker (EA) and Welch (GE) visionaries who redefined the competitive parameters of their respective industries.
Both men were brilliant leaders.....but failed to instill a cohesive forward looking strategy amongst their successors. Post Capitan Eddie & Jack CEOs were judged based on their performance against their predecessors rather than their contemporaries.
Industrial realities move forward....EA was stuck trying to improve the last decades business model.

jfklganyc wrote:

STT757 wrote:

N649DL wrote:

That's right about LGA. I forgot the new late 1980s terminal was intended to be Eastern's and instead went to USAir.

it's during their LGA hub days in 1991 that they launched their new Globe logo based on the Unisphere in nearby Flushing.

http://www.nywf64.com/airlines10.html

Ironic. Less than a year later, the new terminal was opened as the USAir terminal, and CO and their successor airline, United, have had nothing but a token presence in Queens since that day.

Which all things considered, it was kind of crazy that at the time the DOT allowed CO to have a major hub at EWR and a large presence at LGA at the same time back then. Especially considering how rocky things ended with Lorenzo and all of the Texas Air merger and/or ownership fallout between CO, EA, PE, New York Air, and Frontier during the late 1980s (you could throw the former EA Shuttle going to Trump and then USAir as well too.)

I wonder if CO was kicking themselves by the late 1990s for letting all of their LGA presence disappear to USAir? They got their act together (mostly) by then but when they had a large dominance between LGA and EWR in the early 1990s, CO was definitely not regarded as a great airline but a lot of underrated real estate.

I flew DTW-MCI-DTW on Eastern when they opened the MCI hub and they flew travel agents there for a day trip to Kansas City to show off the city.