The New Eastern

Plagued by stodgy management, increasingly rough competition on its once lucrative routes, and customer complaints about older planes and screwy schedules, Eastern Air Lines has steadily lost money in recent years. But under President Floyd D. Hall, 48, who moved over from TWA a year ago, Eastern is showing signs of recovery. Last week it announced that it reduced its eleven-month deficit in 1964 to $6,700,000, from 1963's eleven-month loss of $16.5 million. It also got a jet-powered assist from the Civil Aeronautic Board, which approved the line's proposal to increase all fares that now cost less than $50, cut those that cost more than $50. Since Eastern has a heavy schedule of short-haul flights, the new rates should bring it at least $6,500,000 more in profits a year.

SACLike Control. Seven months ago, Hall launched ''Operation Boot strap," a program to halt losses and retrieve passengers. He switched maintenance to nighttime, when most jets are down anyway, and established a SAClike control center in Miami to anticipate trouble and try to correct it. He also offered incentives for increased passenger loadings, set quotas for on-time arrivals (Eastern had been tenth among trunk lines, with 33% of its planes late). "Bootstrap" achieved its limited goals, and now Hall has replaced it with "Operation Breakthrough." Its ambitious goal: $14.5 million in profits this year.

With 40 Boeing medium-range "Whisperjets" in service or on the way, Eastern has ordered another ten. The airline has applied to the CAB for permission to drop service to a dozen small cities-- "tobacco-road stops" it unflatteringly calls them. In a joint move that has been temporarily blocked by court action, Eastern and National have offered $15 million to Northeast if the smaller line will withdraw its appeal of a CAB order removing it from the lucrative Florida run, where the three airlines have been battling one another for years for tourists.

Two-Tone Blue. Floyd Hall's ship has a long climb upward before a permanent breakthrough is certain. Eastern is still inadequately equipped with jets and owes a staggering $253 million in purchase loans on those it has. Even so, Hall is so pleased with the line's improving image that he has increased advertising budgets 40% to publicize "the new Eastern" and is repainting Eastern's planes a bright, two-tone "Caribbean blue" and "stratosphere blue" to signal the change.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.