25 Years Since Demise Of Eastern

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:40 am

January 18th marks 25 years since Eastern Air Lines shut down

COMMERCIAL BREAK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYhp__Y9dg4

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Photo © Jerrold Webber

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Photo © Bob Parrick

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Photo © Marc Hasenbein

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Photo © Gary Vincent

FIRST AIRLINE TO FLY THE L-1049 CONSTELLATION

FIRST AIRLINE TO FLY THE LOCKHEED L-188 ELECTRA

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Photo © Bob Garrard

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Photo © Bob Garrard

FIRST AIRLINE TO FLY THE DOUGLAS DC-8-21

FIRST AIRLINE TO INTRODUCE A SYSTEM-WIDE EASY TO READ QUICK REFERENCE TIMETABLE

FIRST AIRLINE TO FLY THE BOEING 727

COMMERCIAL BREAK:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiKhh8C9Tf0&NR=1

FIRST AIRLINE TO FLY THE DC-9-30

FIRST AIRLINE TO FLY THE LOCKHEED L-1011 (first to crash one also)

FIRST U.S. AIRLINE TO FLY AN AIRBUS

COMMERCIAL BREAK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLhyQ2GuErY&feature=related

FIRST AIRLINE TO FLY THE BOEING 757

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:41 am

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:43 am

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:45 am

nomadd22 · Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:56 am

I remember flying them last in 86, when Frank and Frank were doing their best to wreck the airline.

deltadawg · Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:26 am

I flew them about two weeks before they ceased operations, BOS-LGA-ATL coming home just after the New Years from my brothers house in Maine. The LGA-ATL leg was on a 757 and there were only about 10 people on board the flight and we got great service but all the flight attendants could talk about was the impending collapse. I flew EA many times between the mid-70's up to the closure and I was never all that impressed and really do not have a fondness of EA like so many others do. No doubt, EA and the employees were screwed over by Frank but the airline itself was nothing extraordinary other than being the first to fly almost anything.

However, I hope the new EA can make a go of it as it would be pretty cool to see the new "WhisperJets" in ATL again.

EA CO AS · Mon Jan 18, 2016 5:49 am

Quoting nomadd22 (Reply 4):
I remember flying them last in 86, when Frank and Frank were doing their best to wreck the airline.

You mean Charlie, Frank, and Frank....

STT757 · Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:38 pm

Eastern Air Lines is what made me fall in love with aviation. I could spot their planes in the sky growing up as a kid. Growing in NYC and New Jersey Eastern was the #1 airline, especially to Florida where we traveled the most.

I've flown Eastern:

JFK-MCO-JFK L1011, 727

EWR-MCO-EWR L1011, 757

EWR-ATL-MCO A300

EWR-TPA-EWR L1011

LGA-MIA L1011

MIA-EWR 757

skymiler · Mon Jan 18, 2016 1:04 pm

Flew them a lot -- and I am still in contact with some staff, who moved on to DL and are there to this day! Most of their staff were great -- management, well that and the union leadership is another story

I bought a lifetime Ionosphere club membership when they had that push near the end, and it has flowed through all the acquisitions and mergers -- and today I still have it as a lifetime United club menbership! Best $600 I ever spent during my 42+ years (and continuing) of airline travel!

STT757 · Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:43 pm

My last Eastern flight was MIA-EWR, January 1990, on a 757.

richierich · Mon Jan 18, 2016 3:18 pm

I thought Eastern was back!

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Photo © Carlos Aleman - SJUAP

Just kidding, you're right, EA died 25 years ago. Hard to believe it has been that long.

klwright69 · Mon Jan 18, 2016 3:28 pm

I took an EA A300 from LAX to ATL in 1984 I believe. It was a lot of fun. One of the few flights I really remember. I loved their livery. It's so sad, what happened to EA, PA, and TW.

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 3:43 pm

After the shutdown

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 3:46 pm

Oh WOW...I've never seen this!

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 3:50 pm

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 3:51 pm

STT757 · Mon Jan 18, 2016 3:59 pm

Does anyone have memories of Eastern's JFK terminal that could a description of the inside? I flew through there in the late '70s, but was too young to remember . I think I might remember a single large waiting area in the main terminal where people sat before walking to their gate in the concourses, which were too small for people to wait for their L1011 or A300 flights.

I was able to visit the terminal in the fall of 1989 ( I was 14) during the strike, however Eastern was done at JFK at the time (consolidating to EWR, LGA and ISP). I only recall the ground floor escalator going to the check in lever where I think NWA was operating at the time.

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:21 pm

The title of this vid is

JFK airport Eastern Airlines terminal

I was excited with anticipation as I clicked to open.

What a letdown !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq-fdqaSFVo

georgiabill · Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:48 pm

I had many flights on the old eastern including LAX-JFK-LAX and SFO-JFK-SFO on their introductory fares of 99.00 for first class. UA.TW and AA all matched their fares of 99.00 for F and 49.00 for Y. What a bargain. I used those flights several times that summer. AA even had a 747 operating the red eye to JFK from SFO and a midday departure from JFK to SFO.

Also flew A300'S on EA from SFO to ATL several times including their inaugural service from SFO
Other EA flights included
SFO-MIA-SFO L1011
ATL-BOS-ATL Dc-9'S and 727'S
BOS-SJU-BOS L1011
BOS-MCO-BOS L1011
BOS-MIA-BOS 727'S

I have fond memories of EA including their short lived mainline services from BOS to smaller cities in NH including Laconia and Lebanon.

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:44 pm

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:45 pm

The one on the left....actually, I've never seen that before

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:47 pm

Terminal A @ BOS

727LOVER · Mon Jan 18, 2016 7:53 pm

Frank Borman was sure in a lot of ads

nomadd22 · Mon Jan 18, 2016 8:36 pm

That ad looks like something Yogi Berra would come up with.

Big version: Width: 420 Height: 593 File size: 41kb

[Edited 2016-01-18 12:38:08]

nomadic · Mon Jan 18, 2016 9:11 pm

Although my dad worked for TWA I did have a chance to fly Eastern quite a bit, mainly JFK and LGA to Miami and San Juan as well as a few flights between Denver and Atlanta. I also flew the Shuttle when they still had Electras. My first A300 was LGA MIA. They were fighting it out with Delta and National on the route and everyone was trying gimicks to get people on board. Our flight had a movie and pop corn.....passed out before we left the gate.

As it turned out my last EA flight was 25 yeasrs ago on January 17 the day before the shut down. (I still have my boarding pass!). I was in First Class and I remember the service being superb. The F/As were trying so hard and if they had any idea what the coming the next day they did not show it.

nomadd22 · Tue Jan 19, 2016 12:52 am

I needed to fly from Miami to Orlando in February 86 when they were talking strike. The Eastern ticket agent said that if the flight was cancelled, she'd personally drive me to Orlando.
I was really hoping for that strike.

Viscount724 · Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:01 am

Quoting 727LOVER (Thread starter):
January 18th marks 25 years since Eastern Air Lines shut down

Just curious what accounts for your major interest in Eastern? Did you work for them?

727LOVER · Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:22 am

Quoting Viscount724 (Reply 26):
Just curious what accounts for your major interest in Eastern? Did you work for them?

I grew up in Florida, so Eastern & National were my two favorites.

I was very familiar with their ATL flight banks. Also, I was pretty familiar with a few of their flight #s.

Example:

164 was TPA-EWR
316 was TPA-CLE
180 was TPA-DCA
112 was ATL-EWR

It's been a while, so my memory has faded a bit

North from ATL flights would keep the same #, while South from ATL woul change.

Example, 112 would do DAB-ATL-EWR...then on the next schedule, it would be SRQ-ATL-EWR...next schedule, it would be MOB-ATL-EWR

727LOVER · Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:35 am

Excellent NY Times article on the shutdown:

http://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/20/us...came-a-crusade.html?pagewanted=all

727LOVER · Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:48 am

SunsetLimited · Tue Jan 19, 2016 1:52 am

My first flight was on Eastern. 12/79. MSY-HOU. 727 of some variant.

Also...and still not sure how my mother pulled this one off...I had my 8th birthday party on a parked EA 72S at one of the C gates at MSY.

IMissPiedmont · Tue Jan 19, 2016 2:58 am

I rode on EA many times, probably as much as AA or TW. I have tried to research what the last takeoff and the last landings were. But, I am old and lazy. I think the last takeoff was a 727 bound for ATL, and the last landing was an L10 into MIA. Would anyone know any more details?

And, regarding a previous post about EA ever being a good airline, oh yes, they were good. Until Lorenzo got his hooks in them.

727LOVER · Tue Jan 19, 2016 3:20 am

Quoting IMissPiedmont (Reply 31):
I rode on EA many times, probably as much as AA or TW. I have tried to research what the last takeoff and the last landings were. But, I am old and lazy. I think the last takeoff was a 727 bound for ATL, and the last landing was an L10 into MIA. Would anyone know any more details?

That is something that I have forever been trying to find out. I have the answer for Pan Am...but not Eastern.

747buff · Tue Jan 19, 2016 3:27 am

Someone posted it on here a while back. The last EA flight was LGA-ATL I believe. It could've been the other way around.

ltbewr · Tue Jan 19, 2016 4:12 am

I recall being on several Eastern flights, including the LGA-DCA shuttle, of course to Florida.

My parents took an Eastern L-1011 JFK-SFO-JFK in the early 1980's, their 'Transcon' service. There was a problem, a delay for something like 2 hours, so free drinks from JFK-SFO ! I bet that was a 'happy' flight.

They also offered for a short time 'moonlight special' flights that operated overnights, mainly to carry freight, with maybe only carry on luggage.

I believe they had more fights hijacked to Cuba than any other USA airline in the late 1960's-very early 1970's.

Even today, there signs of Eastern. For a number of years, their HQ was I believe at 10 Rockefeller Center and a mural in the lobby as to their aircraft still exists.

1991 would also see on 12/4 the demise of the original PanAm. Both were destroyed in part from deregulation, capitalization issues, management disasters and competition.

Ryanair01 · Tue Jan 19, 2016 6:20 pm

There are quite a few videos around showing the Eastern experience.

DC9 inflight Orlando to O'hare
https://youtu.be/8oyan2ebLZI

727 inflight O'hare to Orlando
https://youtu.be/1rz3t-ikEWY

727 inflight from Rochester to Albany (yup....)
https://youtu.be/UdMl3dGo0b0

L1011 inflight
https://youtu.be/dlGdTjgFG-U

It seemed to me Marty Shugrue gave a decent go at saving Eastern, but during the Gulf War people just stopped travelling, not just Eastern but all airlines, I remember flying on a BA 747 with 33 people on board. with no cash reserves to speak of or saleable assets they had little choice but to shut down.

Some shots around MIA in 1993
https://youtu.be/riRuo_lRP0A

superjeff · Tue Jan 19, 2016 6:36 pm

Martin Shugrue actually accomplished quite a lot. Many people don't realize that the liquidation of Eastern actually returned a surplus, which meant some payout (albeit I'm sure not much) back to the shareholders.

I worked for Eastern in college and they had some good people. I think a combination of Frank Lorenzo and Charlie Bryan killed the company.

727LOVER · Tue Jan 19, 2016 7:28 pm

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