Welcome to the Eastern Airlines News and Discussion thread. Please continue to post your news and discussions below.

Link to last years discussion:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1455779

Confirmed: Eastern is suspending the MIA-ASU and MIA-MVD routes, effective 16JAN22 and until 31MAR22. During those dates, Eastern will only operate on the JFK-GYE route.

There go more unhappy customers in the middle of South America peak travel season.

https://www.aviacionline.com/2021/12/ea ... ontevideo/

dcajet wrote:

Confirmed: Eastern is suspending the MIA-ASU and MIA-MVD routes, effective 16JAN22 and until 31MAR22. During those dates, Eastern will only operate on the JFK-GYE route.

There go more unhappy customers in the middle of South America peak travel season.

https://www.aviacionline.com/2021/12/ea ... ontevideo/

Shut them down. It also appears they’ve began flying freight through ANC. Unless they have been MIL charters

Is anyone else surprised this airline is still operating?

dcajet wrote:

Confirmed: Eastern is suspending the MIA-ASU and MIA-MVD routes, effective 16JAN22 and until 31MAR22. During those dates, Eastern will only operate on the JFK-GYE route.

Highly doubt either route will return in March. If this is the case, they're back to exactly where they were when Dynamic Air went bankrupt.

flight152 wrote:

Is anyone else surprised this airline is still operating?

No cus they are using their planes to make more money when they cancel these flights.

32andBelow wrote:

flight152 wrote:

Is anyone else surprised this airline is still operating?

No cus they are using their planes to make more money when they cancel these flights.

Word on street is they've lost the Patriots contract to Omni next season- there goes that income flow and 225 which they use for DOD ALOT....that just leaves them DOD & JFK-GYE for now....

Are they operating the Arizona Cardinals 777?

7673mech wrote:

Are they operating the Arizona Cardinals 777?

It is operated by Jet Aviation Flight Services.

7673mech wrote:

Are they operating the Arizona Cardinals 777?

I think they have the MX contract

32andBelow wrote:

7673mech wrote:

Are they operating the Arizona Cardinals 777?

I think they have the MX contract

Eastern doesn't even have 777 Approval from the FAA yet, word is ETOPS are coming before the 777's, who knows anymore....

73790 wrote:

32andBelow wrote:

7673mech wrote:

Are they operating the Arizona Cardinals 777?

I think they have the MX contract

Eastern doesn't even have 777 Approval from the FAA yet, word is ETOPS are coming before the 777's, who knows anymore....

Didn’t they buy like 7000 777s to fly freight?

For what its worth there are several 777s in MCI that belong to Eastern. Two of them are in Eastern Livery one even says " Eastern Cargo" and the rest are an assortment of aircraft they have purchased. Former Singapore Airlines, Kenya Airways, Scoot, and VIM from what I can see. Hard to keep up with which aircraft are arriving for scrap and which are here for future service.

Apparently they also have another 767-200 & another 767-300 (N606KW & N708KW) - both will be entering service as well. I assume rather quickly since they already have certification for the type.
This might be to backfill the loss of N225NE & N36NE.

Cedar

Cedar wrote:

Apparently they also have another 767-200 & another 767-300 (N606KW & N708KW) - both will be entering service as well. I assume rather quickly since they already have certification for the type.
This might be to backfill the loss of N225NE & N36NE.

Where are these two N225NE & N36NE heading to, maybe freighter conversion? Who will take over the ops for the New England Patriots?

As for the "new" N606KW & N708KW, why? Both airframes were operated previously by Thai airlines which lost their AOC due to lack of oversight and financial problems... N708KW was more than 5 years in DMK, N606KW more than 6 years in FJR in open storage - with no or maybe little maintenance. Given the fact that both airframes were operated by dingy operators in the past, it will quite a (impossible) task to bring them to FAA standards. As said, their AOC were revoked in the past, both airlines are out of business, so I assume the maintenance records are shady. So why on earth would EASTERN take over these planes?

asaad11 wrote:

For what its worth there are several 777s in MCI that belong to Eastern. Two of them are in Eastern Livery one even says " Eastern Cargo" and the rest are an assortment of aircraft they have purchased. Former Singapore Airlines, Kenya Airways, Scoot, and VIM from what I can see. Hard to keep up with which aircraft are arriving for scrap and which are here for future service.

From the sounds of things, even those that are supposed to be used for service could also very well end up in the scrapper.

debonair wrote:

Where are these two N225NE & N36NE heading to, maybe freighter conversion? Who will take over the ops for the New England Patriots?

There was talk on another thread that Omni may be taking over the operation of these.

debonair wrote:

Cedar wrote:

Apparently they also have another 767-200 & another 767-300 (N606KW & N708KW) - both will be entering service as well. I assume rather quickly since they already have certification for the type.
This might be to backfill the loss of N225NE & N36NE.

Where are these two N225NE & N36NE heading to, maybe freighter conversion? Who will take over the ops for the New England Patriots?

As for the "new" N606KW & N708KW, why? Both airframes were operated previously by Thai airlines which lost their AOC due to lack of oversight and financial problems... N708KW was more than 5 years in DMK, N606KW more than 6 years in FJR in open storage - with no or maybe little maintenance. Given the fact that both airframes were operated by dingy operators in the past, it will quite a (impossible) task to bring them to FAA standards. As said, their AOC were revoked in the past, both airlines are out of business, so I assume the maintenance records are shady. So why on earth would EASTERN take over these planes?

Sound like they are scrapping bottom of barrel, buying very cheap airframes with questionable history. I wonder where do they get their finance to buy, lease 35 B777 in such short period of time.
N606KW, ex-Jet Asia Airways HS-JAE 33 years old........looks to be in one piece in recent Dec 2021 photo:

N606KW Boeing 767-233ER 24324 Jet asia cls (wearing HS-JAE) by Dan Raistrick, on Flickr

So what is Eastern? An airline or charter company? Website is vague.

According to this Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/PA-Coastal-Air ... 932791829/, seems like Alta Airlines Holdings/Jet Midwest/ Eastern Air Lines added another two non-ER B767-346 and from Japan Airlines:
1. N503KW 24 years old 2 x GE CF6 80C2B2 engines, ex-JA8987
2. N509KW 24.5 years old 2 x GE CF6 80C2B2 engines, ex-JA8976
3. N808KW 14.7 years old 2 x PW PW4077 engines, ex-JA773J

Can anyone confirm on these?

william wrote:

So what is Eastern? An airline or charter company? Website is vague.

They an airline that operates scheduled flights with questionable reliability and service, charter flights, and who loves announcing routes that often do not come to fruition.

RoyalBrunei757 wrote:

According to this Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/PA-Coastal-Air ... 932791829/, seems like Alta Airlines Holdings/Jet Midwest/ Eastern Air Lines added another two non-ER B767-346 and from Japan Airlines:
1. N503KW 24 years old 2 x GE CF6 80C2B2 engines, ex-JA8987
2. N509KW 24.5 years old 2 x GE CF6 80C2B2 engines, ex-JA8976
3. N808KW 14.7 years old 2 x PW PW4077 engines, ex-JA773J

Can anyone confirm on these?

Jet Midwest bought the first two over a year ago, then transferred them to Alta Airlines Holdings. Jet Midwest bought the third a few weeks ago.

MO11 wrote:

debonair wrote:

Where are these two N225NE & N36NE heading to, maybe freighter conversion? Who will take over the ops for the New England Patriots?

There was talk on another thread that Omni may be taking over the operation of these.

That's correct - there is talk that they lost the Patriots contract to OMNI. So both those airframes will go with the contract.

Cedar

RoyalBrunei757 wrote:

According to this Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/PA-Coastal-Air ... 932791829/, seems like Alta Airlines Holdings/Jet Midwest/ Eastern Air Lines added another two non-ER B767-346 and from Japan Airlines:
1. N503KW 24 years old 2 x GE CF6 80C2B2 engines, ex-JA8987
2. N509KW 24.5 years old 2 x GE CF6 80C2B2 engines, ex-JA8976
3. N808KW 14.7 years old 2 x PW PW4077 engines, ex-JA773J

Can anyone confirm on these?

Think you hit the nail on the head - Jet Midwest is partially owned by Kenneth Woolley who is also part owner of Eastern. Looks like Jet Midwest purchased the A/C & transferred them over to Alta which is a subsidiary of Eastern Air Holdings.
They are able to purchase these A/C outright because they are getting them very cheap from bankrupt airlines. And the A/C are old. As for the 777's they are newer than the 767's so probably in better shape - also from bankrupt airlines.

N606KW has already flown 2 routes to from FLL - I believe FAA already certified it.

Cedar

Polot wrote:

william wrote:

So what is Eastern? An airline or charter company? Website is vague.

They an airline that operates scheduled flights with questionable reliability and service, charter flights, and who loves announcing routes that often do not come to fruition.

Exactly - scheduled commercial service to underserved international markets, but very heavily focused on charters as well. And now a Cargo carrier as well once they complete the P2F conversions.

Kind of all over the place, chasing the money - I don't think they have any desire in becoming a major US carrier with commercial service in the future.

Cedar

Word is they have cancelled over 25 JFKGYE rotations till April...

That leaves mainly only DOD flights. Not sure when they plan on the cargo flights.

Cedar

Slightly off-topic, but I have friends flying from Ushuaia to Miami tomorrow (Mon, 1/14) on a nonstop charter. Is that a 777 or 767? Anyone?

seat1a wrote:

Slightly off-topic, but I have friends flying from Ushuaia to Miami tomorrow (Mon, 1/14) on a nonstop charter. Is that a 777 or 767? Anyone?

Its a 767-200

santi319 wrote:

seat1a wrote:

Slightly off-topic, but I have friends flying from Ushuaia to Miami tomorrow (Mon, 1/14) on a nonstop charter. Is that a 777 or 767? Anyone?

Its a 767-200

But is that Eastern or Omni Air? I think I saw pics earlier this month of an Omni 767-224ER at USH.

dcajet wrote:

santi319 wrote:

seat1a wrote:

Slightly off-topic, but I have friends flying from Ushuaia to Miami tomorrow (Mon, 1/14) on a nonstop charter. Is that a 777 or 767? Anyone?

Its a 767-200

But is that Eastern or Omni Air? I think I saw pics earlier this month of an Omni 767-224ER at USH.

Thanks for the prompt reply, much appreciated! I got this tidbit from friends on the Ushuaia-Montevideo-Miami charter today (sorry, did not want to look up the airport codes):

The 767 is 31 years old and first flown by British Airways, then Qantas. Hope to get a photo of the interior!

seat1a wrote:

dcajet wrote:

santi319 wrote:

Its a 767-200

But is that Eastern or Omni Air? I think I saw pics earlier this month of an Omni 767-224ER at USH.

Thanks for the prompt reply, much appreciated! I got this tidbit from friends on the Ushuaia-Montevideo-Miami charter today (sorry, did not want to look up the airport codes):

The 767 is 31 years old and first flown by British Airways, then Qantas. Hope to get a photo of the interior!

Then if it is an ex BA/QF bird, it is not a 200 series but a 300 one. In fact, it is N703KW.

The interiors are very basic, like a trip back to the 90s. Here are some pictures: https://pointmetotheplane.boardingarea. ... nos-aires/

dcajet wrote:

seat1a wrote:

dcajet wrote:

But is that Eastern or Omni Air? I think I saw pics earlier this month of an Omni 767-224ER at USH.

Thanks for the prompt reply, much appreciated! I got this tidbit from friends on the Ushuaia-Montevideo-Miami charter today (sorry, did not want to look up the airport codes):

The 767 is 31 years old and first flown by British Airways, then Qantas. Hope to get a photo of the interior!

Then if it is an ex BA/QF bird, it is not a 200 series but a 300 one. In fact, it is N703KW.

The interiors are very basic, like a trip back to the 90s. Here are some pictures: https://pointmetotheplane.boardingarea. ... nos-aires/

Yup, just checked FR24 and got the same reg, it's a -300. N703KW
I got a pic of the interior and 4J and 4K are in that blue vinyl/leather ... no lie-flats! LOL.

Yeah N703KW is still painted in old EAL livery. These are all standard seats, no first class, business class or premium economy type seats. Just basic economy blue leather seats.

Looks like has a tech stop in MVD before heading to MIA - due to the distance.

Cedar

Without knowing the specifics of Eastern's ops, USH-MIA is 4,864 nm. That distance should be comfortably within the range of a 767-300ER. In fact Omni Air and National have operated the same flight this month, with the 762ER and A332, and in both cases the flights were nonstop.

dcajet wrote:

Without knowing the specifics of Eastern's ops, USH-MIA is 4,864 nm. That distance should be comfortably within the range of a 767-300ER. In fact Omni Air and National have operated the same flight this month, with the 762ER and A332, and in both cases the flights were nonstop.

This is a charter for Viking Cruises (whose passengers were just on the Octantis to Antarctica). All coach seating.

seat1a wrote:

dcajet wrote:

Without knowing the specifics of Eastern's ops, USH-MIA is 4,864 nm. That distance should be comfortably within the range of a 767-300ER. In fact Omni Air and National have operated the same flight this month, with the 762ER and A332, and in both cases the flights were nonstop.

This is a charter for Viking Cruises (whose passengers were just on the Octantis to Antarctica). All coach seating.

For those wondering, folks from USH airport tell me there will be 4 more Eastern flights to USH this southern summer, with the last one operating on 09MAR.

dcajet wrote:

seat1a wrote:

dcajet wrote:

Without knowing the specifics of Eastern's ops, USH-MIA is 4,864 nm. That distance should be comfortably within the range of a 767-300ER. In fact Omni Air and National have operated the same flight this month, with the 762ER and A332, and in both cases the flights were nonstop.

This is a charter for Viking Cruises (whose passengers were just on the Octantis to Antarctica). All coach seating.

For those wondering, folks from USH airport tell me there will be 4 more Eastern flights to USH this southern summer, with the last one operating on 09MAR.

Are these specific to scheduled cruises? Thanks!

Cedar wrote:

Yeah N703KW is still painted in old EAL livery. These are all standard seats, no first class, business class or premium economy type seats. Just basic economy blue leather seats.

Looks like has a tech stop in MVD before heading to MIA - due to the distance.

Cedar

Tech Stopped due to crew swap and incorrect pax load prediction on the leg down, word is they predicted 240 MIA-MVD-USH ended up with 70something, along with was not granted to overnight there like Omni & National does….

dcajet wrote:

Without knowing the specifics of Eastern's ops, USH-MIA is 4,864 nm. That distance should be comfortably within the range of a 767-300ER. In fact Omni Air and National have operated the same flight this month, with the 762ER and A332, and in both cases the flights were nonstop.

Word is incorrect pax load prediction prompted them to send a crew to MVD for fuel and swap for duty, but grossly mis predicted the load by over 150 people…

Rumor around the block is EAL has lost International Bidding permissions with the DOD due to several operational meltdowns, and is now restricted to domestic DOD for now until they improve & or get ETOPS which word is they’ve been approved to run their validations in February after passing FAA Tabletops…..let’s see if the maintenance holds up….

73790 wrote:

dcajet wrote:

Without knowing the specifics of Eastern's ops, USH-MIA is 4,864 nm. That distance should be comfortably within the range of a 767-300ER. In fact Omni Air and National have operated the same flight this month, with the 762ER and A332, and in both cases the flights were nonstop.

Word is incorrect pax load prediction prompted them to send a crew to MVD for fuel and swap for duty, but grossly mis predicted the load by over 150 people…

Just scratching my head here...

If you OVERestimate the pax load by 150 people, doesn't that give you MORE range (i.e. you have about 30,000 pounds less weight from pax and bags)? I'm probably missing something... (Maybe the original poster had it backwards?)

Also, if they've already flown this route a few times, wouldn't they be able to construct a crew schedule that works without a flag stop? Omni did it. National did it. The whole thing makes no sense. It just looks like they're out of their depth. Viking Cruises is probably starting to learn that you get what you pay for.

As to the issues with AMC (USTRANSCOM), that ends up being bad for them if they're in the Penalty Box. AMC is tough-as-nails in its assessments of carriers and safety, as everyone there still remembers the Arrow Air disaster. They're also sticklers for onboard service; it has to be done just right. Interestingly, Eastern is on the Fedex Team for Long-Range International CRAF. The only other charter carrier on that team that has meaningful passenger capability is Atlas, which has 6 pax 767-300ERs and 3 747 pax aircraft. One of Atlas's 767s is in MEX for maintenance, but it's newest one is flying. So if Eastern is sidelined by AMC, then the team just assigns the work to Atlas, or, if Atlas is swamped, it goes to another team for now (e.g. National (a "team of one") or, more likely, the Patriot Team, which includes Omni.) It's no big loss for AMC, but potentially a significant one for Eastern.

It's also interesting that, with all Eastern's plans for 777 "freighters", they don't have the 777 on their ops spec yet. I guess that puts the Cardinals aircraft transfer in peril. Presumably, Omni can get it on their cert ricky-tick if need be. Jet Aviation is an excellent operation, but the Cards still need to get that thing into the hands of a Part 121 carrier to maximize safety and make their insurers less nervous. Why they would go to Eastern over Omni, especially after the Pats pulled their two aircraft and are sending them to Omni (apparently), is a bit of a mystery. All Part 121 charter operators are not the same, as Eastern proves repeatedly.

wjcandee wrote:

73790 wrote:

dcajet wrote:

Without knowing the specifics of Eastern's ops, USH-MIA is 4,864 nm. That distance should be comfortably within the range of a 767-300ER. In fact Omni Air and National have operated the same flight this month, with the 762ER and A332, and in both cases the flights were nonstop.

Word is incorrect pax load prediction prompted them to send a crew to MVD for fuel and swap for duty, but grossly mis predicted the load by over 150 people…

Just scratching my head here...

If you OVERestimate the pax load by 150 people, doesn't that give you MORE range (i.e. you have about 30,000 pounds less weight from pax and bags)? I'm probably missing something... (Maybe the original poster had it backwards?)

Also, if they've already flown this route a few times, wouldn't they be able to construct a crew schedule that works without a flag stop? Omni did it. National did it. The whole thing makes no sense. It just looks like they're out of their depth. Viking Cruises is probably starting to learn that you get what you pay for.

As to the issues with AMC (USTRANSCOM), that ends up being bad for them if they're in the Penalty Box. AMC is tough-as-nails in its assessments of carriers and safety, as everyone there still remembers the Arrow Air disaster. They're also sticklers for onboard service; it has to be done just right. Interestingly, Eastern is on the Fedex Team for Long-Range International CRAF. The only other charter carrier on that team that has meaningful passenger capability is Atlas, which has 6 pax 767-300ERs and 3 747 pax aircraft. One of Atlas's 767s is in MEX for maintenance, but it's newest one is flying. So if Eastern is sidelined by AMC, then the team just assigns the work to Atlas, or, if Atlas is swamped, it goes to another team for now (e.g. National (a "team of one") or, more likely, the Patriot Team, which includes Omni.) It's no big loss for AMC, but potentially a significant one for Eastern.

It's also interesting that, with all Eastern's plans for 777 "freighters", they don't have the 777 on their ops spec yet. I guess that puts the Cardinals aircraft transfer in peril. Presumably, Omni can get it on their cert ricky-tick if need be. Jet Aviation is an excellent operation, but the Cards still need to get that thing into the hands of a Part 121 carrier to maximize safety and make their insurers less nervous. Why they would go to Eastern over Omni, especially after the Pats pulled their two aircraft and are sending them to Omni (apparently), is a bit of a mystery. All Part 121 charter operators are not the same, as Eastern proves repeatedly.

Yes, I mistyped that, don’t type at early hours without coffee…..

73790 wrote:

Yes, I mistyped that, don’t type at early hours without coffee…..

I'm very often guilty of this myself, so no worries. The story makes a little better sense, then. And it's not entirely clear whether it's the carrier or Viking who is responsible for the misunderstanding as to the number of passengers who would be flying. One would think, however, that data processing being what it is in 2022, there should be electronic records of who was planning to travel, something like reservations. So that's sort of all weird. But not necessarily Eastern's fault.

This “airline” is a joke, and that “PA Coastal Airways Planners” guy Mark Porter is right up there with them.

EA CO AS wrote:

This “airline” is a joke, and that “PA Coastal Airways Planners” guy Mark Porter is right up there with them.

Is he involved?

His LinkedIn page is interesting to say the least. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-porter-3b604155/

EA CO AS wrote:

This “airline” is a joke, and that “PA Coastal Airways Planners” guy Mark Porter is right up there with them.

Wack job express who’s obsessed over anything Eastern, apparently stalks a lot of their pilots on FB, I’ve heard.

I’ve heard some discussion as of late that Global X in Miami has achieved more then Eastern has in a matter of months, word is Eastern is losing people to them and several other carriers with the rumor being over 30 resignations from Pilots/Flight Attendants ect at Eastern in the last 3 months.

With American Airlines once again out of MVD in March, at the end of the southern summer season, Eastern plans to return to Uruguay's main airport and capital city in April, 3x w

2D154 MIA 20:30 MVD 07:15+1 146 767
2D155 MVD 20:15 MIA 05:00+1 257 767

https://www.aviacionline.com/2022/01/ea ... -en-abril/

wjcandee wrote:

73790 wrote:

dcajet wrote:

Without knowing the specifics of Eastern's ops, USH-MIA is 4,864 nm. That distance should be comfortably within the range of a 767-300ER. In fact Omni Air and National have operated the same flight this month, with the 762ER and A332, and in both cases the flights were
Word is incorrect pax load prediction prompted them to send a crew to MVD for fuel and swap for duty, but grossly mis predicted the load by over 150 people…

Just scratching my head here...

If you OVERestimate the pax load by 150 people, doesn't that give you MORE range (i.e. you have about 30,000 pounds less weight from pax and bags)? I'm probably missing something... (Maybe the original poster had it backwards?)

Once you get to a certain pax/cargo load, you have to reduce the fuel load, which limits range. Also weather and runway lengths factor into the range. Dispatch should have replanned with the actual pax/cargo numbers, but if crew was already positioned at the fuel stop point, nothing else you can do with limited numbers of A/C and crew.

73790 wrote:

Rumor around the block is EAL has lost International Bidding permissions with the DOD due to several operational meltdowns, and is now restricted to domestic DOD for now until they improve & or get ETOPS which word is they’ve been approved to run their validations in February after passing FAA Tabletops…..let’s see if the maintenance holds up….

This is interesting - as they only were awarded these not too long ago if I'm not mistaken. I'm thinking sometime in the summer - that's a big $$ loss.

Cedar