Eastern Airlines Boeing 747
Like most American airlines, Eastern Airlines started as an airmail company. In 1926, Pitcairn Aviation merged with Florida Airways and acquired its first government airmail contract between Atlanta and New York City. In 1929, North American Aviation, an aircraft manufacturing company, bought Pitcairn; North American’s owner, Clement Keys, wanted to turn the small airmail company into a passenger airline, and so changed its name to Eastern Air Transport. After Keys was bought out by General Motors in 1934, the name was changed to Eastern Airlines. Passenger service began in 1930 with Ford Trimotors.
Arguably the most important event in Eastern’s history took place four years later, in 1938, when Edward Rickenbacker bought Eastern outright. Rickenbacker was the US’ top fighter ace of World War I and well-respected throughout the aviation community; Eastern immediately profited by having “Captain Eddie” in charge, as he brought trust and name recognition. Though Rickenbacker’s plans for the airline were delayed by World War II, once the war was over in 1945, he began expanding the airline—though he kept the network small and limited to the US East Coast, Rickenbacker concentrated on lower fares, high density routes, and fast service. Though Eastern, like most postwar airlines, initially relied on war surplus Douglas DC-3s, Rickenbacker was quick to appreciate the value of the faster, larger Lockheed L-049 Constellation. Eastern rapidly grew and gained in revenue: alone among major American air carriers, Eastern did not accept or need government subsidies. In 1956, with the acquisition of Colonial Airlines, Eastern expanded its route network internationally for the first time with flights to eastern Canada.
Though Rickenbacker made Eastern the launch customer for the Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop, he did not trust jet aircraft, believing them fit only for wealthy passengers. As every other major carrier was busy buying jet airliners, Eastern’s board of directors eased Rickenbacker out in 1960. After that, Eastern enthusiastically embraced the jet age by introducing the Douglas DC-8 on high-density routes and becoming the launch customer for the Boeing 727 for shorter routes. This began a tradition of Eastern becoming the first airline to introduce an airliner type, either as the first customer or the first American customer.
As the airline was now left with a large fleet of Constellations, the airline put these to work on an hourly shuttle service between New York and Washington DC; the shuttle alone carried 2.2 million passengers annually and shot Eastern into the largest airline in the world by passenger use. Eastern also positioned itself as the official airline of Walt Disney World and acquired both Caribbean Atlantic Airlines and Braniff’s extensive South American network. By the late 1970s, Eastern had introduced the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, mainly on its Caribbean routes, and became the first American airline to fly the Airbus A300.
By 1980, the situation was beginning to change. Eastern’s iconic “hockey stick” livery was familiar to everyone in the Western Hemisphere, but deregulation put the airline in the position of competing with carriers that were either better equipped to deal with it (such as Delta, Eastern’s main competition at its Atlanta hub) or able to undercut its fares (such as no-frills startup People Express). While the new A300s were unique and Eastern was the launch customer for the Boeing 757, both were huge investments in aircraft that Eastern could ill afford and did not really need.
With Eastern now posting continual losses, Borman oversaw the sale of the airline to Frank Lorenzo’s Texas Air, which already owned Continental. This move angered Eastern employees, as Lorenzo had a reputation for destroying airline unions. This in turn led to labor unrest and strikes, grounding Eastern at the worst possible time; Lorenzo retaliated by giving Eastern’s US West routes to Continental and selling the airline’s profitable New York-Washington shuttle to Donald Trump, who formed his own airline, Trump Shuttle. Not helping matters was increasing fuel prices and a huge fine levied by the FAA on Eastern for poor maintenance.
By 1989, Eastern had lost two-thirds of the passenger numbers it had posted only four years before. The end finally came in January 1991, when Eastern declared bankruptcy and shut down for good, bringing to a halt one of the United States’ longest and most storied airline franchises. However, the "hockey stick" may not be dead yet: a new Eastern Airlines, with the same livery, returned to the skies in 2014.
Eastern only briefly operated the Boeing 747; N735PA was one of three leased from Pan Am, painted in full Eastern livery. It proved uneconomical for Eastern's business model, so the aircraft only flew with Eastern from 1970 to 1972. Including its brief stint with Eastern, N735PA enjoyed a long career with Pan Am, flying from 1970 to 1991. After Pan Am went bankrupt, N735PA was bought by Polar Air Cargo and converted to a freighter. It was retired in the early 2000s and may still exist in storage as of this writing.
Eastern Airlines Boeing 747
Like most American airlines, Eastern Airlines started as an airmail company. In 1926, Pitcairn Aviation merged with Florida Airways and acquired its first government airmail contract between Atlanta and New York City. In 1929, North American Aviation, an aircraft manufacturing company, bought Pitcairn; North American’s owner, Clement Keys, wanted to turn the small airmail company into a passenger airline, and so changed its name to Eastern Air Transport. After Keys was bought out by General Motors in 1934, the name was changed to Eastern Airlines. Passenger service began in 1930 with Ford Trimotors.
Arguably the most important event in Eastern’s history took place four years later, in 1938, when Edward Rickenbacker bought Eastern outright. Rickenbacker was the US’ top fighter ace of World War I and well-respected throughout the aviation community; Eastern immediately profited by having “Captain Eddie” in charge, as he brought trust and name recognition. Though Rickenbacker’s plans for the airline were delayed by World War II, once the war was over in 1945, he began expanding the airline—though he kept the network small and limited to the US East Coast, Rickenbacker concentrated on lower fares, high density routes, and fast service. Though Eastern, like most postwar airlines, initially relied on war surplus Douglas DC-3s, Rickenbacker was quick to appreciate the value of the faster, larger Lockheed L-049 Constellation. Eastern rapidly grew and gained in revenue: alone among major American air carriers, Eastern did not accept or need government subsidies. In 1956, with the acquisition of Colonial Airlines, Eastern expanded its route network internationally for the first time with flights to eastern Canada.
Though Rickenbacker made Eastern the launch customer for the Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop, he did not trust jet aircraft, believing them fit only for wealthy passengers. As every other major carrier was busy buying jet airliners, Eastern’s board of directors eased Rickenbacker out in 1960. After that, Eastern enthusiastically embraced the jet age by introducing the Douglas DC-8 on high-density routes and becoming the launch customer for the Boeing 727 for shorter routes. This began a tradition of Eastern becoming the first airline to introduce an airliner type, either as the first customer or the first American customer.
As the airline was now left with a large fleet of Constellations, the airline put these to work on an hourly shuttle service between New York and Washington DC; the shuttle alone carried 2.2 million passengers annually and shot Eastern into the largest airline in the world by passenger use. Eastern also positioned itself as the official airline of Walt Disney World and acquired both Caribbean Atlantic Airlines and Braniff’s extensive South American network. By the late 1970s, Eastern had introduced the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, mainly on its Caribbean routes, and became the first American airline to fly the Airbus A300.
By 1980, the situation was beginning to change. Eastern’s iconic “hockey stick” livery was familiar to everyone in the Western Hemisphere, but deregulation put the airline in the position of competing with carriers that were either better equipped to deal with it (such as Delta, Eastern’s main competition at its Atlanta hub) or able to undercut its fares (such as no-frills startup People Express). While the new A300s were unique and Eastern was the launch customer for the Boeing 757, both were huge investments in aircraft that Eastern could ill afford and did not really need.
With Eastern now posting continual losses, Borman oversaw the sale of the airline to Frank Lorenzo’s Texas Air, which already owned Continental. This move angered Eastern employees, as Lorenzo had a reputation for destroying airline unions. This in turn led to labor unrest and strikes, grounding Eastern at the worst possible time; Lorenzo retaliated by giving Eastern’s US West routes to Continental and selling the airline’s profitable New York-Washington shuttle to Donald Trump, who formed his own airline, Trump Shuttle. Not helping matters was increasing fuel prices and a huge fine levied by the FAA on Eastern for poor maintenance.
By 1989, Eastern had lost two-thirds of the passenger numbers it had posted only four years before. The end finally came in January 1991, when Eastern declared bankruptcy and shut down for good, bringing to a halt one of the United States’ longest and most storied airline franchises. However, the "hockey stick" may not be dead yet: a new Eastern Airlines, with the same livery, returned to the skies in 2014.
Eastern only briefly operated the Boeing 747; N735PA was one of three leased from Pan Am, painted in full Eastern livery. It proved uneconomical for Eastern's business model, so the aircraft only flew with Eastern from 1970 to 1972. Including its brief stint with Eastern, N735PA enjoyed a long career with Pan Am, flying from 1970 to 1991. After Pan Am went bankrupt, N735PA was bought by Polar Air Cargo and converted to a freighter. It was retired in the early 2000s and may still exist in storage as of this writing.