Frank Borman - Eastern Air Lines

Eastern Air Lines

In early 1969, Borman became a special advisor to Eastern Airlines and after retiring from NASA and the U.S. Air Force in 1970, he was made Senior Vice President-Operations Group at the airline company. He was later promoted to Executive Vice President-General Operations Manager and was elected to Eastern Airlines's Board of Directors in July 1974. In May 1975, Borman was elected President and Chief Operating Officer. He was named Chief Executive Officer of Eastern Airlines in December 1975 and became Chairman of the Board in December 1976.

After Borman became Eastern Airlines's CEO, it went through the four most profitable years in the company's history. However, in 1983, contentious battles with labor unions, particularly the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) led the company to abandon several profitable programs and the resulting loses led to the sale of the airline to Texas Air Corporation, headed by Frank Lorenzo. Borman retired from Eastern Airlines in June of 1986. An IAM strike and intransigence by the IAM Union forced Eastern into bankruptcy in 1989, followed by liquidation in 1991.