With the VEP in hand , Borman was able to refinance the debt on the company 's 254 aircraft . Profits jumped to a record $ 67.3 million in 1978 , and Eastern went through the four most profitable years in its history . During this time , the employees received double their VER payments . Borman ordered $ 1.4 billion worth of new , more fuel-efficient aircraft , and the company 's debt ballooned to $ 2.3 billion . Over the next six years , Eastern ran at a loss , partly due to the debt , and partly due to airline deregulation in 1978 , which caused the number of airlines in the United States to increase from 30 to nearly 100 . Some of the newcomers offered unprofitable and unsustainable low prices in order to gain market share . In just the first three quarters of 1984 , Eastern lost $ 128 million . Borman negotiated an agreement with the Airline Pilots ' Association ( ALPA ) for a 22 percent pay cut , while the International Association of Machinists ( IAM ) and the Transport Workers Union ( TWU ) ( representing the flight attendants ) accepted an 18 percent cut . Employees were nominally compensated with grants of company stock , but its value declined from $ 60 a share in 1966 to $ 6 a share in 1983 . Eastern posted a profit of $ 6.3 million on gross revenues of $ 4 billion in 1984 , but this was not enough to satisfy the creditors , who demanded a 2 percent profit . Borman laid off 1,000 flight attendants and cut the pay of 6,000 more by over 20 percent . He also slashed the pay of executives and middle managers by 20 to 25 percent . He attempted to negotiate further cuts with the unions , threatening bankruptcy . The ALPA and TWU accepted , but the IAM did not . Over ten years , the three unions had given up $ 836 million in wages and benefits , and the company had little to show for it . Charlie Bryan , the head of the IAM , said that the union would accept the deal only if Borman resigned . In response , Eastern 's board decided to sell the airline to Texas Air Corporation , headed by Frank Lorenzo . Borman resigned from Eastern in June 1986 . It was a personal defeat , but hardly a financial disaster ; he received a severance payment of $ 900,000 , and drew a consultant 's fee of $ 150,000 a year from Texas Air until 1991 . Afterwards he served on the South African Board of Inquiry into the 1986 aircraft crash that killed Mozambican president Samora Machel
1986 aircraft crash
1986 Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 crash
Frank Borman