Seems like they are making a comback. http://easternairlines.aero/

I use to fly them all the time when I was in the Army. They always overbooked the flight by a lot and when Id show up they would bump me up to first class for free. It happend to me all the time. I was so sad when they went under.

Not sure if this is a good time to start up an airline, but I wish them luck.

Rob

That's like saying Pan Am 2 was like the first one. I rode on the first one and flew for the second one.

Night and day.

Hey brother. I grew up with EAL. My old man worked there for over 40 years until they went under....Those were the good old days...before "too big to fail."

Back in the 60s and even 70s there was such camaraderie among the airlines. It was such a different industry. I rode in jump seat as a kid (probably against all sorts of regulations) when a flight was full once. There were only enough seats for three of us and my old man did not want to not have a first class seat so they let 10 or 15 year old me ride in jump seat instead of him!

Wireman, you probably remember when you could open cockpit door with a GM trunk key?

I was with American for 37 years. When Eastern went under we hired a lot of their people. Some of the best guys I had on my crew were ex-Eastern guys. American hired them at a fraction of the salary they had been making. They got so screwed. Lost everything.

I remember as a little kid they would invite you to visit the cockpit on flights, gave you a set of tin wings and made my year.
Man things have changed.

I always liked Eastern's bare metal livery, and they flew the L1011 which automatically makes them a cool airline.

http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/5/2/3/1102325.jpg

Pooch, I'll pass that on. I know he'll appreciate the sentiment and that folks remember how they all lost everything.

Pielstick, I liked the 1011 because I liked the engine whine but....: Parts flying in formation!

And there's also Flight 401 and all those salvaged ghost parts too.

Yeah but they were supposed to be good ghosts trying to warn others of impending doom and disaster!

I've liked the L1011 ever since I was a kid. We used to take annual family holidays in Spain and on more than one occasion we flew on Caledonian L1011s. On one of those flights my brother and I got to visit the flight deck and it was pretty impressive for a wide eyed six year old like me. I think it may have sparked my interest in aviation.