Nation : Texas Air to Sell Reservation Unit

Texas Air Corp., in need of cash to shore up its ailing Eastern Airlines subsidiary, said today it has agreed to sell half of its System One computer reservations unit to General Motors Corp.’s Electronic Data Systems for about $250 million.

Under the accord, the two partners said they will hold 50% stakes in the unit, which will provide computer reservations system services to nearly 8,000 travel agents. Texas Air bought System One from Eastern in 1987 for a $100-million note payable in 2012. The price Texas Air paid for System One is seen by Wall Street analysts as unduly low.

That transaction and others between Eastern, sister carrier Continental Airlines and Texas Air are being investigated by an examiner appointed by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge hearing Eastern’s Chapter 11 case.