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In May 1962 Eastern Flight Engineer’s went on strike 
(FEIA Union) because we had been without a contract for 
almost a year. The Eastern Pilots had already negotiated 
that they needed a third Pilot onboard aircraft that had 
a F/E, since they couldn’t get the F/E’s seat at that time. 





This setup caused confusion and many pilot gripes to the 
company and union about their third pilot being displaced 
from his seat behind the Captain by the FAA Inspector, 
during FAA Check Rides. Actually the Pilots Union ALPA 
threatened a strike if Eastern didn’t implement the third 
Pilot. 

Finally Eastern told the Pilots that the third Pilot had 
no duties in the cockpit and not required by FAA, so was 
eliminated from the cockpit. We wanted a guarantee that 
the 600 Professional F/E’s (F/E which also has a FAA, 
A & P Mechanics Lic.) employed at Eastern would have the 
first rights to the Flight Engineer’s seat before any 
Pilot/Engineer’s (Pilot with a F/E’s Lic., but no FAA 
A & P Mechanics Lic.) Eastern hires or trains after us. 

What the Pilots Union ALPA really wanted now since they 
lost the third Pilot, was for the F/E’s to come under 
the Pilots Union, eliminating the F/E’s Union FEIA all 
together. To do this they suggested to the company that 
they require the F/E’s to have pilot licenses and we 
would have to join their union at the bottom. Guess who 
gets laid off first? I picketed outside of Eastern Air 
Lines Terminal at Boston Logan Airport, when asked to 
by the Flight Engineer’s Union. Later we took turns 
driving a older picket car painted up (Day-Glo Orange) 
with signs painted all over it, “Don’t Fly Eastern, 
It’s Unsafe” and etc. around the airport that one of 
our Flight Engineer’s owned and had painted up. 





EAL L-188 Electra N5501

Eastern decided that the quickest way to get the Airline 
back in operation after the strike, would be to get as 
many F/E’s back without a contract, to use them to train 
the Pilots for their F/E seat and wouldn’t offer them any 
guarantees of continued employment afterwards. So after 
being on strike for a little over three months, Eastern 
sent out telegrams to all F/E’s that offered the F/E’s a 
job, but with No Union and No guarantees on how long the 
job would last. Also we would have to get our own FAA 
Commercial Pilots Lic. & Instruments rating on our own 
time and money, but we could never bid on a Pilots opening. 

This also doesn’t make any sense as most of us, if we had 
obtained our FAA Commercial & Instruments ratings, we would 
have more FAA licenses in our pockets than the Captain flying 
the aircraft and getting paid a lot less, not to mention 
the fact, we could never bid on a pilots position within 
the company. Well I had a family and no job prospects at all, 
but I wasn’t going to give in to Eastern and their unfair way 
of treating their pass loyal employees. I didn’t go back 
under those requirements and so didn’t 499 other Eastern 
F/E’s either, but 100 F/E’s did. Then after most of us 
turned down Eastern’s offer to come back under their 
ridiculous terms, they locked us out of our jobs. 

Our case filed by FEIA Union was never heard in any Civil 
or Federal court; it kept being referred back to each other 
as not in their jurisdiction. 

Finally a year and a half later President John F. Kennedy 
ruled that this case only affected 600 Flight Engineers 
and it wasn’t in the interest of the Nation (to spend 
Federal money on) to hear it. Thanks President Kennedy! 
But what most people don’t know is, he had and so did all 
Presidents before him and since him have five to six 
Professional Flight Engineers assigned to the Presidents 
aircraft and later called Air Force One, since they were 
implemented. So we never got our hearing in court to 
protest the illegal union tactics used by ALPA. 

I could go on and tell how Eastern blocked all of us 
ex-Eastern Flt. Engineer’s from getting other jobs in 
all the aviation fields after the strike, but I won’t. 

Like my wonderful wife Jeri always said: “If it hadn’t 
been for the strike, you wouldn’t have flown, all over 
the world”. She’s right as always and I probably would 
not have flown for ONA either and met and worked with a 
lot of very nice people, that would have been a great 
loss to me.  

Fall of 1962 I still didn’t have a job and couldn’t 
find any aviation jobs, most all the jobs I applied 
for (not Aviation related) said I was over qualified 
for the job and my past salary was higher than most 
of their own managers. They also knew if I was offered 
an aviation mechanic’s or Flt. Engineer job, I would 
quit and leave for it since it was my line of work and 
would pay more. So as they say, “I was caught between a 
rock and hard place” under these circumstances. 

In May of 1963 Walbar Machine Products, Inc. in Stoneham, 
MA finally hired me and later they opened up another 
shop in Peabody, MA, which I moved to. I was hired as 
a Quality Control Inspector of machine parts and later 
did some Source Inspection of Castings down in New Jersey. 

I worked there till Saturn called Mar. of 1966, offering 
me a Flt. Engineer’s position on their DC-7’s based out 
of JFK, NY, which I accepted.

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