Airlines’ Workers May Team Up to Bid for Eastern

A Pan American World Airways union official said Friday that he will meet with the leader of Eastern’s striking machinists today to discuss a possible joint buyout by employees of the two airlines.

William F. Genoese, director of the Teamsters union’s airline division and head of its Pan Am local, said he and Charles Bryan, head of Eastern’s machinists local, plan to discuss a buyout plan to combine the airlines.

Pan Am, like Eastern, has been racked by financial losses and labor tensions. Pan Am Chairman Tom Plaskett recently said the carrier probably would need to merge with another airline to ensure its survival.

Texas Air Chairman Frank Lorenzo has indicated a renewed interest in selling all or parts of Eastern since the airline filed for bankruptcy protection March 9. Texas Air, a holding company, owns both Eastern and Continental Airlines. Eastern is operating only about 10% of its pre-strike schedule of 1,040 daily flights.

“It’s possible that the most sensible way for Eastern Airlines to proceed would be for some different types of ownership in some way,” Lorenzo said in an interview recorded for ABC-TV’s “20-20” show Friday night.