Has anyone on here flown with Eastern Airlines?

nwa757 · Post by **nwa757** » 02 Jun 2004, 15:11

Hi. I have taken a real interest in Eastern Airlines after reading the book "Grounded; Frank Lorenzo and the Destruction of Eastern Airlines".

I was wondering if anyone on here has flown with Eastern, and if so please tell us about it.

Thanks

,
Trev

C-117 · Post by **C-117** » 02 Jun 2004, 19:41

My most fervent memories of Eastern go back to the late 50's and early 60's. The earliest flight I can recall was aboard one of their DC-3's from BPT to HOU when I was a kid. Our family flew Eastern as a first choice over all other carriers at the time. My father was a U.S. Marine Corps pilot and my mother was a WASP during WWII, and for some reason (maybe Rickenbacker and the military connection), Eastern was "their" airline. I have vivid memories of flying aboard all of Eastern's propliner fleet, but their Super Connies were the best. Eastern's livery was simple yet forceful. The red eagle and blue piping against highly polished aluminum -a stunning combination when set on the tri-tailed Constellation.

The interiors, the flight crew's uniforms and the service (we flew a lot as a family) were impeccable. "Stewardesses" always had time for individuals and children. Window curtains, cloth headrest covers, plastic wings, decks of cards, coloring books with Eastern's logo and a visit from the flight deck were standard fare. I usually insisted on sitting as near as possible to the leading edge of the wing - the best place to watch the rich blue flames of the piston engine exhausts at night. And of course, we flew lower and a lot slower in those days, and I distinctly remember receiving regular "sight-seeing" updates from the Eastern pilots over the PA system. From gate to gate, Eastern was a first class experience.

Air_Lac · Post by **Air_Lac** » 02 Jun 2004, 20:57

I flew with EASTERN once back in the 1980ies...on 13 October 1982 to be more precise from Montreal-Dorval to New York-La Guardia. The aircraft was an Airbus A300 N206EA (EASTERN was then the only US carrier to operate Airbus aircraft).
I remember the flight only vaguely, the weather was not particularly good (cloudy and rainly, some turbulences on the approach), the aircraft was only about 50% full.
The cabin service was okay, the meal okay (nothing exceptional). The flight was rather short just about 1 hour.

Air_Lac

teddybAIR · Post by **teddybAIR** » 02 Jun 2004, 22:06

What has become of Eastern actually?

I've found some pics on interiors:

B741: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/582189/L/
Lockheed L188 (seems spacious!): http://www.airliners.net/open.file/041674/L/
DC-9: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/038545/L/

flying regards

bAIR

Post by **sn26567** » 08 Jun 2004, 15:04

I flew with Eastern in 1977: Baltimore-Orlando and Miami-Baltimore, on B727, with three small kids. The company was already in financial trouble and therefore had an excellent service in order to attract the customers that would prevent its bankruptcy. This policy did not succeed, unfortunately.

Eastern also operated the Boston-New York-Washington shuttle between La Guardia and resp. Logan and National. This was more like a bus, where you had to pay for your ticket in the plane! The stewardesses had only a credit card machine to cash the price of the tickets, and no service at all.