SUNSET FOR THE "EAST COAST SHUTTLE"?

Eastern Air Shuttle: The Pioneer
New York Air: First Competitor

New York Air Became Pan Am Shuttle

Eastern Shuttle Became Trump Shuttle

Trump Shuttle Became US Airways Shuttle

One of the most unique air travel services launched on April 30, 1961 was the famous "Eastern Air Shuttle" (now known as The "Delta Shuttle" and its competitor, "US Airways Shuttle"). The Shuttle is an American Icon. The Shuttle connects passengers between the sexy "power corridor" of New York (La Guardia)-Boston (Logan Airport)- and Washington (Reagan National) on the hour and half hour. Celebrities, Media Moguls, Bankers and Politicians rubbed elbows with the rest of us. So, if you live in any of the New England states here in the USA, you are familiar with this unique service. Unfortunately, a lot has changed since the heyday of "The East Coast Shuttle" from the 1980's. Today, Internet Conferencing, E-mail, Amtrak's Acela train, and even cheap fares aboard (gasp!) buses has eroded this American Icon. From carrying a peak of 5 million flyer's a year to just 3.2 million over the past 12 months, I believe we're going to see the death of yet another interesting American institution. Here's the story in brief...

_

Who would have ever thought I'd be standing in Columbus, Ohio at the rather unkempt grave of World War I flying ace and Eastern Airlines founder Eddie Rickenbacker in 2003? Actually, I was returning from one of many commercial television auditions by car "shuttling" myself between Cincinnati and Columbus and one spring day, I decided to stop and ask where Captain Rickenbacker's Memorial was located. He is a fascinating guy to "Google", by the way.

-

While at the helm of Eastern (once the third-largest US carrier in 1980) Captain Eddie unveiled a product in 1961 that was revolutionary at the time: Eastern's famous "East Coast Air Shuttle". It is featured in many movies, including "The Verdict" with the late Paul Newman and Jack Warden. The service began with a dedicated fleet of Lockheed 1049 "Super Constellation" propeller planes carved out from its mainline fleet that were strictly operated for the "The Shuttle". Then, in 1962 the fleet was "upgraded" to Douglas DC-7 aircraft, then Douglas DC-9 twin-jets and eventually the service was standardized using the venerable Boeing 727 Tri-Jets (my personal favorite) by 1965. It was very cool! Passengers had the option of on-board ticketing and no reservations were ever required. While laughable by today's surly service and bad manners most everywhere you go, "The Shuttle" always maintained a backup fleet of aircraft to meet unexpected surges in demand. Eastern had this market all to itself, until Frank Lorenzo--then a little know chief of Texas International Corporation--started New York Air after the airline industry was deregulated under President Carter in 1978. Those of you in "The Big Apple" will recall the bright red painted MD-80's of New York Air and even the famous marketing verve of offering passengers "Nosh Bags" (Red colored bags containing a bagel and cream cheese along with miniature cheese cakes). A silver-apple logo adorned the tail of each plane and fares were $99 for each segment. In December, 1986 Lorenzo merged New York Air into his empire of Continental Airlines, Frontier, People Express, and by now--troubled Eastern Airlines (where the largest and most visible labor war was sadly played out in public for the next 4 years). Lorenzo, unable to cut costs or dissolve Eastern's labor unions began a series of controversial asset stripping from Eastern. He sold off one-third of Eastern and 43,000 employees were reduced to only 18,500 employees by the time a trustee was appointed in 1990 to try and save the company from total collapse. But "The Shuttle" was sold to Donald Trump. This became of course, "The Trump Shuttle". Yes, "The Donald" installed faux marble sinks and gilt painted faucets in the lavatories, served fresh fruit to passengers along with top-rated newspapers and magazines. Trump paid $365 million for "The Shuttle" alone. Meanwhile, back in 1986 soon after Pan Am sold off its entire Pacific Division (with employee jobs intact) to United Airlines, Pan Am purchased New York Air from Texas Air Corporation. This new service was called "The Pan Am Shuttle" and while this gave Pan Am quite a lot of visibility and brought some Class to the marketplace, it did little to address the fact that bi-partisan politicians for decades in Washington denied Pan Am any domestic route authority in the United States. Until The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, Pan Am was THE American International carrier (along with TWA).

-

Donald Trump's empire encountered financial difficulties by 1990. The flamboyant real estate tycoon found himself over-extended with dropping Manhattan real estate values, delays and construction cost over-runs with his Atlantic City properties and a nasty divorce from first-wife Ivana. So, Trump transferred ownership of "The Trump Shuttle" to a creditor's group (headed by City Bank and Banker's Trust) as he restructured over $2 billion in debt. US Airways was contracted to operate "The Trump Shuttle" under the new name, (yes, you guessed it) "The US Air Shuttle" on April 1, 1992. On February 27, 1997, the airline was re-named (what else?) "The US Airways Shuttle". A total of 15 daily round-trips between Washington and New York and 17 daily round-trips between Boston and Washington earned a net profit of $9.2 million for US Airways in 1998. The average one-way shuttle fare back then was $176. But more changes came along.

-

Pan Am was sadly mired in financial difficulties and by 1990--like Eastern Airlines--Pan Am filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. On September 1, 1991 Delta Air Lines acquired "The Pan Am Shuttle" (renamed, of course "The Delta Shuttle") along with the bulk of what remained of Classy Pan Am's Atlantic route system for a paltry $416 million--an insult, in my opinion.

-

Last week, Delta announced it was adding a "First Class" cabin to its Shuttle flights. The cabins should be reconfigured by late November, but don't be fooled. This is nothing more than an "exit strategy" so that Delta can move planes from "The Shuttle" in and around its main line system. Several years ago, both carriers dropped their service guarantees: (where you'd show up on time and be guarantee a seat even if they had to roll out a backup plane from the hangar to meet the extra travel demand). The 727's were parked as gas-guzzling aircraft and replaced by smaller planes. Then the schedule was cut back on off-hours and weekends. Wow! Talk about a dying relationship. It was journalist Barbara Petersen who 15 years ago called "The Shuttles" ..."the fabric that bound together the Northeast elite, a democratic institution that treated celebrities and working stiffs alike with the same legendary indifference." Forget it!

-

Today, wealthy passengers have moved on to use private jets, making New York to Washington one of the most popular routes for corporate aircraft.Then Continental Arlines scored a coup by catering to business travelers who preferred using Newark Airport. Not to be outdone, American Airlines and Jetblue Airways today from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport. But wait! It gets worse. Many Washington-area business flyer's find Dulles International more convenient than Reagan National Airport.

-

Because I'm a romantic at heart, you'll never find me on Amtrak's Acela train, or a bus. There's just an allure about the "The East Coast Shuttle" that is nostagic to me--however long they keep the operation going. See you onboard!

-

(HAVE A FUN WEEKEND!)

www.michaelmanning.tv

The Full Website