Eastern Reports Big Boost in Its Bookings

Eastern Airlines officials claimed that business surged Wednesday after the carrier gained breathing room with a cash infusion from a bankruptcy court escrow account.

The leader of the striking machinists union, meanwhile, urged new talks to settle its 21-month-old strike.

“The phones are ringing off the hook. Consumers are viewing this as a substantial vote of confidence,” Eastern boss Martin R. Shugrue said in New York, where a federal bankruptcy judge Tuesday agreed to Shugrue’s request to release up to $135 million from the carrier’s escrow fund.

Travel agents said the move had temporarily put aside consumer worries about being stuck if the carrier folded. Shugrue said the money will ensure the carrier’s operations through the end of March, when he says Eastern will make a profit. Shugrue plans to meet with employees tonight.

“The reaction has been incredible,” said Eastern spokesman Jim Ashlock. “For the first time that a great many of us veteran people have seen in a long time, people are rooting for us. It’s a Christmas present for everybody who works at Eastern,” he said of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Burton R. Lifland’s decision.