Will Eastern Airlines be resurrected and fly again?

Good luck on that one. Mr. Wegel may have significant industry experience, but he won’t bring back the EAL that we all knew and loved. Charlie, go and talk to some of the very few remaining pilots who meet at local cafeterias and restaurants every month and I think you’ll get a very different perspective of what Mr. Wegel is attempting. My dad retired in 1977 as Chief Pilot on the DC-9, and all I can think when I read about this is that he is turning over in his grave.

Running an airline under any name is difficult. Sure – Eastern is a nice name. I never flew them, but view it in a positive light. However, it isn’t just the name and logo, it is how things are run.

I wish them luck with it, and I hope they don’t just go and waste a whole bunch of investors’ money.

Um, does anyone remember the group called “We Hate Eastern Air Lines” (WHEAL)?

Eastern, sadly, did not enjoy the best of reputations. There are many reasons for this, of course, but it is tough, almost disingenuous, to say that Eastern enjoyed a reputation for good customer service.

Plus, take a look at the business news: Airlines are cutting capacity in response to falling demand. We don’t need new airlines or more capacity. We need the airlines we have to succeed – and it’s not guaranteed that all will.

Plus, the market doesn’t appear to suffer from too many unmet needs. Most major cities have adequate service. We have an extraordinary degree of competition. JetBlue has essentially replaced Eastern (and, for that matter, the original National) between the Northeast US and Florida – with a nice product and attractive pricing, to boot. Delta and AirTran dominate Atlanta, EA’s former hub (ironically, AirTran even uses a former Eastern hangar at ATL). US Airways dominates Charlotte, a secondary EA hub. And American has about 65% of the share at Miami, Eastern’s former hometown.

Sorry, this dog don’t hunt.

I would applaud an attempt at a restart of the airline. As an Eastern brat, Dad worked for the airline for 34 years, I have many fond memories of Eastern. Yes I remember WHEAL and I also remember the 20% pay cuts Dad took to give pilots and ramp service raises only to see the airline ultimate destroyed by Lorenzo. But Eastern did have a good reputation through much of its 70 years life and many employees like my Dad loved working for Eastern.

I hope that the investor group and these former Eastern employees are successful. I would love to see the Eastern colors fly again. But lets face the reality, in this economic situation and extremely difficult competitive airlines industry, I think it will be an uphill climb to say the least.

Good Luck to all.
RJ

I worked for Eastern Airlines for 17 years up to the demise. I started in reservations in Woodbridge, New Jersey, then transferred to Chicago Res. I moved back to New Jersey, then transferred to Philadelphia Airport and then Bradley Airport, Connecticut. I ending my career with Eastern in Philadelphia Airport. In all of those years wherever I went and people asked me who I worked for I was never ashamed to say EASTERN AIRLINES. Back then we where in the
Service Industry not the DISSERVICE Industry! We where loved by all of the other
airlines pilots and flight attendents, so I guess we couldn’t of been that bad?
I have always said that I would love to retire working again for a great airline,
so Mr. Ed Wegel, please WELCOME ME ABOARD!

Good Luck EAL,

Patti Flynn Bopf

I worked for Eastern for 27 years and had the time of my life. Met and worked with some of the greatest people anyone could want to work with. I loved everyday I worked, and like Jim Craddock would go back if they called me.
the timing may be a little bad but I can only hope and pray Eastern will fly again. As far as WHEAL is concerned lets hope it went to American where it belongs.

Don Murphy STL

Eastern Airlines lives on in the hearts of many. I still have my wings and will put them to use if called upon. This is fantastic news!

I also was a former Eastern manager in NY…had 20 years…I have since worked for Northwest and United and I must say, that in it’s day, Eastern was very advanced in many ways, particularly is reservations system and automated checkin…They were years ahead of the rest. I do a lot of flying, but no one can beat Eastern for the service. It was truly a professional company and I would ABSOLUTELY consider working for the new Eastern!!
I wish you all the best, Ed!!

GOOD LUCK!!!!! Thats the best news i’ve heard in a long time, EASTERN can come back better and stronger then before, the people is what made the airline, in todays maket there is no good service . at EASTERN they had great SERVICE jjust remember in the 70 there was a HoJo on ever conner were are they today. I belive in EASTERN

Hello I am a pilot for Spirit Airlines, I am on furlough right now. I became a pilot so I could fly for Eastern Airlines and the wonderful Tristar L-1011. After EAL closed I was going home and landed in Atlanta for a stop over. As I passed by the EAL terminal and saw all those airplanes park with the gateways not connected it broke my heart. I was finally a commercial pilot ready to apply to EAL. All I can say is that EAL was a pioneer in her time and it could be again, even though people look for low fares they are tired of the lousy of the service they provide. From the bottom of my heart I wish EAL the best of luck I would love to see them in the air again. I you need pilots I will love to fly for you. Take care and best of luck.

I was in the ATL RR reservations center until it closed in Jan 1991.
I worked with some great personalities and learned a great deal from them.
I would work for Eastern Airlines again, and again.

I was a former EAL Shift manager in Miami’s Engine shop for 17 years. It would be a dream come true, if this new team can pull it of to revive the old spirit. I belive in EASTERN AIRLINES and I am ready.

I REMEMBER EASTERN AIR LINES WITH FONDNESS. I FLEW THEM MANY TIMES TO PUERTO RICO. I ALOS FLEW FOR ATA, AND WHEN ESTERN CLOSED IT’S DOORS MANY EASTERN F/A’S CAME OVER TO WORK WITH US A ATA..I REALLY ENJOYED WORKING WITH SUCH FINE F/A’S.

NOW I FLY FOR UNITED AND I REALLY ENJOY FLYING WITH EX EASTERN F/A’S.
I WISH YOU THE VERY BEST!!!!!!

SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND FLY!!!!!!!!

worked for eal for 20 years 12 years at the lga shuttle but had to leave because the writing was on the wall. spent 20 years with USPS and am now retired.
BUT IF EAL WAS TO START UP AGAIN I WOULD COME OUT OF RETIREMENT TO HELP THEM

I was a Flight Attendant from 1973 until the strike and never went back. I never received any information about the resurrection of EAL from anyone! I would love
EAL to come back and be successful. I am now with AA as a F/A and we were certainly a class act. No other airline can compare with EAL.

As a former TWA employee, I remember I was trying to get home to LGA
from PBI. My airline was full, but Eastern had room. Not only did they put me on, but they put me in First, and sat me next to Mr. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. I still remember as a kid growing up, how excited I got everytime I saw their
727 Whisperjets, or their L1011 Whisperliners. Eastern was a class act,
and just like TWA, its demise was a direct result of the greed of one man.

I’ve loved Eastern ever since my first flight at 3 yrs old on an L-1011. I feel that when Eastern airlines returns to the skies, it will shead glory through eveyone’s eye’s that has been waiting for this moment since Jan 18. I also feel that Mr. ED Wegel is Eastern Airlines angel , just waiting in the wings to bring back the greatest airline period. What airline can come close, when Eastern was the only airline ever, to bring up another plane and crew just for one passenger. The shuttle is and was an unpresidented innovation created by Eastern. It’s really bad and sad that 1 idiotic moron would be able to do what that guy did to the best airline in the skies. Eastern Airlines should be the biggest airline out there, not Delta. Just because they reaped the benefits of Eastern demise by gaining more market share, still doesn’t make them have the airline Eastern was. That’s why so many of us are awaiting the New Eastern to take to the air. Mr. Edward Wegel I personally hope you revive this once great proud airline, and with the investors help, bring them back and help them become the airline they once were, by being once again The Wings Of Man and also the number 1 airline out there. This is one quest I would never give up on , never say die, I hope Eastern comes back better than ever!!!!!! PS, Everone want’s to see the hockey stick livery in the air again. Thank you Mr. ED. Wegel for all that your doing to bring back the greatest airline ever.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a fantastic thing it would be to see Eastern Airlines fly again, but I am reading some very disturbing things on this site. Yes, Lorenzo was a hard man but it takes two to tango and Charlie Bryan (the IAM local president) was a short sighted meglo-maniac that didn’t care about anyone but himself and his own greed. I know… I worked for the jerk. BRING BACK EASTERN… but not Charlie Bryan.

Dean D is right. The fact is that Lorenzo saw early on that the airline industry was being Walmarted. He bought a bunch of airlines that were headed for the graveyard and tried to shed costs in order to keep them flying. The only one of the bunch that did not survive , which included Eastern, Continental, New York Air, Frontier, and People Express, was Eastern. That was thanks in large part to Bryan and the strike. All the others are now folded into Continental. Nice to see the old Eastern folks are still in La La Land. Here’s an idea. Why not name it KIWI….

I am hearing of a plan to possibly buy up to a 50% share of USA3000 airlines. USA3000 Airlines is owned by Apple Vacations and flies Airbus 320′s.

My father worked for Eastern from 1956 till the end when he was forced into retirement. He was based in Miami , FL as a lead mechanic. Eastern’s pride was their fleet and their people. I don’t know how my father would feel if he were still alive with the posibility of their resurrection but I would welcome a reborn Eastern with their logo’s and such if just for nostalgia sake! Good luck!

My first airline job was working for Eastern Airlines in PHX and then MIA. Some great people and wonderful memories. 25 years later, I’m still in the airline business working for a major carrier in sales and marketing. I worked for Frank Lorenzo at EAL and then CAL, he was a ruthless bean counter. He robbed EAL just like Carl Ichan did to TWA. Deregulation of the airline industry in 1977 by Jimmy Carter began the eventual demise of the airline industry. Since then, 150 airline companies have come and gone. I was in Roswell, NM last week touring the 280 aircraft parked in the desert, some were old Pan Am and Eastern 727′s / L1011′s now rotting away along-side newer more modern aircraft. Idled due to the economy, higher fuel costs, LCC growth, and allowing repeated bankruptcies by several legacy carriers who didn’t have to pay their bills and wiped out billions in debit while forcing other carriers to slash costs to compete with them. The only thing deregulation did was allow airlines to compete based on price. The rest of the business today remains heavily regulated and pays more in taxes than even sin taxes. The only way this industry will ever become sustainable and profitable is: Re-regulate the fares or set a minimum seat mile cost (CASM) that everyone must charge (a full plane does not mean you are making money). Productivity, you can pay your people well if they work enough reasonable hours. Hire and retain good people, not just MBA’s with no hands on experience, with theories and spreadsheets. I would love to see the EAL colors flying again, but I’m afraid unless the new senior management team being assembled by the investors doesn’t know this already, EAL may become # 151 which would be a terrible fate for such a proud airline with so much potential. If President Obama wants to stimulate the economy, perhaps some legislation to abolish de-regulation and set some standards and benchmarks for all carriers to follow on fares, tax relief, and stop repeated bankruptcy filings. I believe the result would be increased profitability, and more competition based on service standards.

Larry,

I don’t shop or support Wal mart, so I’m not subject matter expert on them. But I do know the airline business better than most do, both below and above the wing.

My point is that the current model of deregulation is not and has not worked. The only thing de-regulated about the airline business today are the fares. The rest of the airline business is still heavily regulated, so my point is, either completely de-regulate it or re-regulate it.

To have to compete with a bunch of bankrupt carriers for years that don’t have to pay all their debits, break labor contracts, impose pay cuts, all on the backs of their employees is not a recipe for success. Not when I don’t get the same benefits or cost breaks as a bankrupt competitor does. Does that sound like healthy capitalism?

All this pain so some business man can buy a cheap ticket and demand an upgrade to first class. The airline business is all about cash flow, and low margins these days. Our best year ever, we generated a 1.7% margin, when most Fortune 500 firms today generate 10% to 15% margins annually year after year? No wonder 150 airlines have gone under since deregulation.

Deregulation has turned the airline business today into Wal mart. Anyone with a lot of capital and financing can start or buy an airline and run it for a few years on new planes, airport tax-payer subsidies, and cheap labor. I’ve seen it done many times before. Eventually it catches up to you. This is not a sustainable business model. With age of your fleet come heavy maintenance costs, more expensive labor and higher network costs, Southwest is clearly heading down that road with diminished profits and lack luster financial performance.

My parents taught me, ‘You get what you pay for’ and that is the case whether it be Wal mart or a high end retail store. I have every right to charge enough to cover my costs and make a profit like any other business. But when you have to keep lowering your costs to compete with the Wal mart airlines of the industry today, you can only do it for so long before you go out of business or file bankruptcy like your stupidest competitor did. Some folks just need to take the bus or drive if they want cheap transportation in my opinion.

Perhaps we should de-regulate the health care system too? The last I checked, medicare still pays doctors a set fee, and brain surgery and heart transplants are still pretty expensive. Maybe they should have to match the costs of medical care in Mexico? And not depend on Government tax subsidies to help off-set the costs of all the illegal immigrants and welfare patients and prisoners who pay nothing? If the feds didn’t subsidize and regulate them, every hospital in this country would be bankrupt and out of business as well, just like the airlines are today.

I”m no rocket scientist, but I do think less government and more competition is a good thing. We just need to all be on a level playing field. And that is not the case in today’s airline industry or since deregulation.

I’ll second the USA 3000 thing. The rumor around there is that the Apple group would sell 51% of the interest in U3K to Mr Wegel and his group and that Apple would provide 20-30% of the bookings to the airline. A win-win for both parties and significantly improves the chances of success and the ability to withstand anything American might throw at them. If Apple chooses to send their passengers on “New Eastern”, there isn’t much American can do to prevent that. Hopefully since there is pretty strong wording in the pilots contract regarding transfer of the certificate, it would mean all of the U3K pilots would go to the new airline.