Eastern Airlines, which I’ve in the past called the world’s strangest airline, is facing a $22.8 million lawsuit from the New England Patriots. This sounds like a messy situation…
Continue reading: New England Patriots Suing Eastern Airlines
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
They should have used Delta Air Lines as they have a fleet of aircraft specifically suited for team transport. Cost is always a factor but reliability is also very important. Sometimes the extra costs are offset by the reliability factor. You get what you pay for.
The Arizona Cardinals now own/lease three ex-Delta 777's. They plan to operate a charter outfit on the side called Gridiron Air for professional teams and whomever has money to charter..
Those are 757's with about 60 seats..NBA leases the aircraft and some MLB teams use them. No NFL team would be able to put a team on one of them.
The Tigers and Red Wings flew on their own MD80 for years, owned by the team’s owner. I believe I saw somewhere earlier this year that they purchased a 737 to replace it.
I don’t agree with this and it’s content.
Yes something is missing and missing parts not in focus, can be a story justified
You seem not to like eastern.
Jesus was termed as “strange”
They are on business still. And they are open.
Maybe you should focus on that, sustainability is possible with airlines, so they are able to give benefits and rewards to those supporting them
It’s good to see eastern still around. It’s good to recognize them.
The NBA actually owns those 757s and leases them back to Delta. They are only available for approved charters outside of the NBA - some NHL and MLB teams use these, and I think a few rock bands have used them as well.
The Patriots could have done this with Delta, though not sure if Delta would have agreed to take ex-American 767s to operate (not sure if they had the same engines, etc.).
As far as I can see Eastern seems like a money laundering operation. Actually conducting flight operations is not what they want to do.
As far as I can see Eastern is a money laundering operation. Actual flight operations is not what they want to do.
Don't be to quick to make negative comments about Eastern Airlines. You don't know what the airline and the airline staff and other employees must do to transport.
Making any kind of conclusion without seeing the contract is very difficult.
Some politicians have used Eastern. In 2016, VP Candidate Mike Pence was on an Eastern plane that skidded off the runway in winter weather at LGA. Pence had to walk to an airport bus.
Comparing the current version of Eastern Airlines to Jesus seems a bit over the top.
I'm reminded of something Carl Sagan said:
"They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."
i worked for eastern airlines as a maintenance manager. the company is responsible for all aspects of maintenance. and when the season is over the company under the agreement had permision to fly the airplanes on DOD missions. the patriot aircraft interior was in great shape but eastern was not able to upkeep the interior these DOD and ICE missiions destroyed the interiors and mantainance was poor in getting parts. i knew that the partriots were not happy and wanted to terminate the contract. the airplannes belongs to the patriots and not eastern. ken willy whos is a part owner is fanancing the company from his own pocket. this company had great potential but poor leadership from ex ceo steve harfrs and other vp and managers.
trust me i use to manaage the maintenance for 5 years they had a good think going and screwed it up mismanagement all across the board
Decade or so ago Mark Cuban bought a 767, refurbished it for the Dallas Mavericks. Has a raffle of sorts a couple times a year, takes 60 people to a surprise destination.
Robert Kraft. I’ll fly for you anytime. I’m a current military pilot with heavy experience and six combat deployments. I can knock out a 767 type rating if it’s to fly for the pats!
This feels like the Patriots took the very lowest bid and flew with it... and that Eastern was desperate enough to get the business that they agreed to terms they weren't excited about.
Yep. Ex Miami Air 737-800 N749MA, repainted in a snazzy red, white, and blue livery. Registered to FLY 737 800 II LLC. Jetphotos . com has a picture of it.
Possibly the strangest comment I've read on OMAAT... and people say some strange things.
Yeah, they got the gig because they were probably the lowest bidder and felt that this connection to a Super Bowl-winning team would boost their profile.
But since Eastern itself probably isn't in as healthy a financial shape as they would like to be, shaking down the Patriots for more cash on the eve of the start of the NFL season was probably the way they thought they could do it.
Unfortunately for Eastern, the Patriots had enough money to sign up with another airline last-minute, and also enough money to sue Eastern for the additional last-minute cost.
A contract is a contract. Eastern appears to have miscalculated the peripheral financial benefit of transporting an NFL team.
Patriots never should have left Delta. We had operated those charters successfully for many years prior to them purchasing their 2 planes
Wrong. Delta has almost all of the NBA and a quarter of the NHL. United doesn’t fly any NBA or NHL. The MLB is divided between United and Delta. Delta also carries almost half of the NFL. Then there is NCAA, WNBA and more
Delta sucks. I've always had bad experiences flying with Delta.
I'm an American Airlines flyer now.
Perhaps the New England Patriots were thinking the name Eastern was an old reliable airline from the past
Eastern Air Lines was a once great airline. Notice the name Eastern Air Lines is the old Eastern. This new Eastern is spelled Eastern Airlines. I worked for the former and was proud of the airline. I hate to see new Eastern bring the name down.
The Pats tend to look for bargains and I'm guessing that this was a low bid and they jumped on it. Low bids are worthless if the vendor can't support the contract. They require sure diligence.
The only people who win lawsuits are lawyers!
Who doesn’t enjoy a Kansas City stopover on the way back from Vegas, especially in the middle of the night?
You have to read the fine print & agree once the dotted line is signed. The airline became greedy & tried to bribe for more money which can be shady. Maybe the pats should have stayed with Delta but now are flying American a more reliable airline, i say stay with a reputable carrier & make certain all I are dotted & all T are crossed, & you are right, the pats are not having a good year so far thanks to bad decisions.
As a former Eastern employee, with deep inside knowledge of the operation, this was bound to happen and a lot of shady stuff went on to make sure the Patriots had a crew each week, the jets were poorly taken care of as well and there was a few incidents with landings as well.