Eastern Expects Net Loss for January of About $30 Million

Eastern Airlines said Wednesday that it expects a net loss of more than $30 million for January and blamed most of it on workers’ demands that they be paid $23 million that had been cut from their wages a year ago.

Meanwhile, the air carrier continued meeting with representatives of its three unions and announced that it would accept a labor consultant’s recommendations for settling the contract disputes. The recommendations, released by Eastern on Wednesday, were made by William J. Usery, a former U.S. secretary of labor hired by the airline. They call for graduated pay increases for the members of all three unions and non-contract employees.

The increases, ranging from 11% to 13.5%, would begin with a 5% pay hike on Feb. 1, 1985, based on Dec. 31, 1984, salary levels. In addition, Usery suggested programs for increasing productivity.

He called on the airline and its unions, which represent about 22,000 of the company’s 38,000 workers, to agree on new contracts by midnight tonight. Union spokesmen could not be reached for their comment.

Explaining the anticipated January loss, Eastern’s senior vice president for finance, Wayne Yeoman, said: “We have continually told our employees that we could not afford to reinstate these wages without it having a negative effect on the airline’s bottom line. It should be obvious that we cannot so significantly increase our expense base and be profitable.”

The airline said January’s loss will almost equal the company’s entire 1984 loss of $37.9 million. It said most of last month’s loss could be attributed to the nearly $23 million paid to employees when it restored pay that had been cut in a 1984 concession and stock-investment program.