Some of us can remember a time when any number of US airlines graced the skies, both near and far. Most dated back to the early days of commercial aviation and every single one of them had a loyal fan base. Several were permanently grounded as a result of severe financial difficulties that no amount of bankruptcy restructuring could fix. Others were absorbed in complicated mergers that left only one carrier as the surviving airline. Whatever the reason, all of them are missed. That’s why I thought it’d be fun to take a look back at these bygone airlines; how they started, how they grew and what contributions they made to the world of aviation. This is the third installment in a multi-part series. If you’re lucky enough to remember flying just one of these carriers, I hope you enjoy your trip down memory lane. If not, I'm betting you'll appreciate learning more about what made each airline special and the role they played in the evolution of the industry. Next up - Eastern Airlines.
The carrier was a composite of assorted air travel corporations, including Florida Airways and Pitcairn Aircraft Company. In the late 1920s, Pitcairn won a contract to fly mail between New York City and Atlanta on their Mailwing single-engine aircraft. In 1929, Clement Keys, the owner of North American Aviation purchased Pitcairn. The following year, Keys changed the company’s name to Eastern Air Transport and, after being purchased by General Motors and experiencing a change in leadership with the passage of the Airmail Act of 1934, the company became known as Eastern Air Lines.
In 1938 World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker bought Eastern from General Motors. The complex deal was concluded when Rickenbacker presented GM Chairman Alfred P Sloan with a certified check for $3,500,00 (equivalent to more than $91 million today). By March of 1939 Eastern was the fourth largest airline in the nation by passenger miles, serving Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Newark, San Antonio, Tampa and Washington, as well as Tallahassee and Memphis. Even so, Eastern’s entire operation fit on one page in the Airways Guide. Rickenbacker pushed Eastern into a period of growth and innovation and, for a time, the company was the most profitable airline in the post-war era, never needing state subsidy. Unfortunately, Eastern’s position was eroded by subsidies to rival airlines and the arrival of the jet age. On October 1, 1959, Rickenbacker’s position as CEO was given to Malcolm A. MacIntyre, a brilliant lawyer but a man inexperienced in airline operations. Rickenbacker’s ouster was largely due to his reluctance to acquire expensive jets as he underestimated their appeal to the public. A new management team headed by Floyd D. Hall took over on December 16, 1963 and Rickenbacker left his position as Director and Chairman of the Board at the end of that year, aged 73.
In November 1959, the carrier opened its Chester L.Churchill-designed Terminal 1 at New York City’s Idlewild International Airport (later renamed for John F. Kennedy). The company’s first jets, the Douglas DC-8-21s were delivered in 1960 and began to take over longer flights like the non-stops from Chicago to New York and Miami. The DC-8s were joined in 1962 by the Boeing 720 and in 1964 by the Boeing 727-100, which Eastern (along with American Airlines and United Airlines) had helped Boeing to develop. In early February 1964, Eastern was the first airline to fly the 727. Shortly after that, a new image was adopted, which included the now- famous hockey stick design and officially displayed on their aircraft as Caribbean Blue over Ionosphere Blue. Eastern was also the first US carrier to fly the Airbus A300 and the launch customer for the Boeing 757.
The famous “Wings of Man” advertising campaign in the late 1960s was created by advertising agency Young & Rubicam, and helped to bolster Eastern’s image. They bought four Boeing 747s but those delivery slots were sold to Trans World Airlines (TWA) once Eastern decided to purchase the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar wide body jet, which became know in the Caribbean as El Grandote (the huge one). Unfortunately, there were massive delays to the Tristar program, mainly due to problems with its Rolls-Royce RB211 engines so Eastern ended up leasing two Boeing 747-100s from Pan Am between 1970 and 1972. They operated those aircraft between Chicago and San Juan as well as from New York to Miami and San Juan. The Rolls- Royce RB211 engine program might easily have foundered in 1971 had it not been for the steadfast support of Eastern Airlines, one of the major launch customers for the Lockheed Tristar. And, just before Walt Disney World opened in Orlando in 1971, Eastern became its “official airline.” They also sponsored a ride in Tomorrowland called “If You Had Wings.”
Former astronaut Frank Borman became President of Eastern Air Lines in late 1975 and moved the headquarters from New York City to the Miami International Airport. In 1980, a Caribbean hub was started in San Juan, Puerto Rico and two years later, Eastern acquired Braniff’s South American route network. By 1985, the carrier was the largest International Air Transport Association airline in terms of passengers. They operated in twenty-six countries on three continents, namely North America (including the Caribbean and Latin America), South America and Europe. However, higher oil prices and the debt created by the Airbus A300 and Boeing 757 purchases profoundly affected the airline. At the time, Eastern was paying out more than $700,00 in interest every day before they sold one ticket, fueled or boarded a single aircraft. Eastern was hemorrhaging cash and faced stiff competition from no-frills airlines like People's Express that sprung up after the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. Unable to keep up, Borman agreed to the sale of the airline in 1986 to Texas Air led by Frank Lorenzo who had already purchased Continental Airlines. To make matters worse, in early 1987, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a $9.5 million fine against the carrier for safety violations, which was then the largest fine ever assessed against an airline.
During Lorenzo’s tenure, Eastern was crippled by severe labor unrest. Asked to accept deep cuts in pay and benefits, in March of 1989, Lorenzo locked out the carrier’s mechanics and ramp service employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM). Concerned that Lorenzo’s successful breaking of the IAM would do the same to the pilots’ and flight attendants’ unions, the pilots, represented by the Air Line Pilots Association Transport Workers Union, called a sympathy strike which effectively shut down the airlines’s domestic operations. Due to the lockout and sympathy strike, cancelled flights resulted in the loss of millions of dollars in revenue. As a result of the strike, a weakened airline structure, high fuel prices, an inability to effectively compete after deregulation and other financial problems, Eastern filed for bankruptcy protection in March of 1989. The company tried to remain in business in an attempt to correct its cash flow, but to no avail. Ultimately, Eastern Airlines stopped flying at midnight on Saturday, January 19, 1991 after playing a major role in the American aviation industry for sixty-five years!
Until next time…travel safe.
Comments