Business Notes Airlines

As Frank Lorenzo took over the control stick at Eastern Air Lines last week, some embittered employees of the carrier wanted to make sure that he felt turbulence on his mission to assemble the largest U.S. airline company. At Eastern's final shareholders meeting, 200 employees turned the session into a shouting match as they accused the carrier's managers of "giving away the company" to Lorenzo's corporation, Texas Air. Eastern workers, who own 20% of the airline's stock, pleaded with management to consider their rival buyout plan, insisting that they could pay $11.25 a share to top Texas Air's bid of $10. But since Lorenzo's company owned at least 51% of Eastern's voting stock, Texas Air controlled enough votes to ensure the $676 million takeover. A federal court in Miami rejected an employee suit to block the deal.