Eastern Reported Planning to Lay Off 4,000

Eastern Airlines has summoned many of its managers to Miami for a meeting Friday that could result in layoffs of 4,000 people, the biggest cutback in the carrier’s history, it was reported today.

The Miami Herald quoted sources as saying the proposal, which would cut Eastern’s work force by 12.5%, involves non-union airport and reservations employees, mostly in the western United States.

Eastern Airlines spokesman Robin Mattell declined to comment on the report.

The Herald said one or more of the carrier’s nine reservation centers will be closed, with the focus of the cutbacks on Eastern’s service in the West, including Kansas City where the airline built an East-West hub in 1983.

The newspaper said that Boston also is expected to be affected but that the impact on Miami is not clear.

It would be the largest cutback in Eastern’s history. The airline laid off 3,500 employees in November, mostly in Miami and Atlanta.

The Miami-based carrier has been considering cutbacks for this fall for the last several weeks. Management has said Eastern is losing $1 million a day and blames high labor costs.

Eastern is currently involved in contract negotiations with both its machinists union and its pilots. The company owes its 3,500 pilots large blocks of vacation time.

Eastern has been shrinking since it was purchased by Texas Air in 1986.