Eastern Is Cool to New Acquisition Offer : Airlines: Northwest Chairman Alfred A. Checchi has made a non-cash proposal for the struggling carrier.

Eastern Airlines’ management is apparently unimpressed with an acquisition offer for the struggling carrier from Northwest Airlines Chairman Alfred A. Checchi.

“It is still in the formative stages,” said a source familiar with the situation. “It is not dramatically different from earlier proposals that were rejected.”

Checchi delivered a proposal to Eastern’s creditors committee last week, but refused to disclose details. Checchi did say, however, that he doesn’t intend to pay cash for Eastern.

Checchi previously bid for 80 of Eastern’s aircraft, its Atlanta hub, slots at New York’s LaGuardia and Washington National airports and its Miami maintenance base.

Eastern’s creditors committee met in New York Wednesday. Telephone calls to committee members for comment on Checchi’s offer were unavailing.

It isn’t clear how Checchi would buy Eastern for no money down. One possibility is that he could issue Northwest stock to Eastern’s creditors.

Another possibility is that Northwest could form a joint venture that would acquire Eastern. The venture could pay Eastern’s creditors with stock or notes.

Timothy Pettee, an airline analyst with the New York mutual fund firm Alliance Capital, doubted Eastern creditors would accept securities as payment.

“They are looking to recoup whatever cash they can get,” Pettee said.

He said that he understood that Delta Airlines has made an offer for Eastern’s Atlanta gates, but that there are no other offers. “I am told that the creditors are seriously looking toward liquidating Eastern,” he said.

Guy Cook, chairman of Northwest’s machinists union, said Checchi discussed a possible Eastern acquisition with him, and that he supported it.

“We are convinced that Northwest has to expand to survive,” he said.

An Eastern acquisition would be tricky because its machinist union is on strike. Checchi would have to settle the strike, or risk a walkout by Northwest machinists, Cook said.

Checchi has indicated that he is interested not only in Eastern, but also in Pan Am and possibly Trans World Airlines. According to two well connected sources, Checchi looked into a TWA acquisition last year, but determined that its then $750-million price tag was too high.

Kent Scott, head of TWA’s pilots union, said he discussed an acquisition of the airline with Checchi several months ago. “He said it was an interesting situation, but that he didn’t want to deal with Icahn,” said Scott. TWA’s owner, investor Carl Icahn, has a reputation for endless haggling on deals.

Checchi didn’t indicate whether he would buy all or just part of Pan Am, which is also for sale. It might be difficult for Checchi to acquire a part of Pan Am--its Northeastern shuttle, for example--without cash, because Pan Am needs the money to finance its other money-losing operations.

Checchi’s appetite for airlines comes as the industry’s fortunes are sagging and as his own airline faces a large acquisition debt and the prospects of layoffs. The industry is expected to lose $1 billion in the fourth quarter, mostly due to high jet fuel costs.

One sign of how the industry is faring came Wednesday, when American Airlines said its third-quarter earnings fell 52%, and that it could lose money for the entire year.

Checchi is clearly concerned about losses at Northwest. As a precaution, he has arranged to borrow up to $1 billion--half of it from aircraft suppliers--if needed for operations. He said that money would not be used for acquisitions.

Despite the grim outlook, industry analysts said it made sense for Checchi to look for an acquisition.

“Today’s economic outlook is not necessarily tomorrow’s outlook,” said Rose Ann Tortora, an analyst with the County NatWest U.S.A. investment firm. “It makes sense for all airlines to be looking.”