The Shuttle Battle

"Relief is coming for the Boston commuter," promised American Airlines' full-page ads. American, hoping for some relief itself, was touting its fancy new Boston-New York Jet Express service, which begins this week. Once king of the route, the airline is challenging the upstart that has virtually swept the rich Northeast Corridor since 1961: Eastern Air Lines' pinchpenny but popular Air-Shuttle.

Eastern drew chuckles from other airlines six years ago when it put 28 aging, piston-engine Constellations in shuttle service between Boston, New York and Washington. When passengers found they could drop in and fly on a guaranteed-seat, pay-on-the-plane basis, the other lines nearly dropped out of sight. Eastern now has 79% of Boston-New York business, compared with about 18% for Northeast (which is be ginning to phase in jets on the route) and a minuscule 3% for American.

Though earnings are still "marginal," the entire Air-Shuttle operation brought in $41 million carrying 2,800,000 passengers last year, which alone would rank it the ninth biggest U.S. airline.

Frills v. Flights. Understandably. Eastern has been loath to fiddle with the Air-Shuttle formula: 16 roundtrip, no-reservation flights a day, with back up planes ready to take the overflow.

The back-ups have endeared the service to Eastern shuttlers -- including the entire Boston Symphony Orchestra, which once popped in at the last minute, instruments and all -- and have held off would-be imitators, who lack the necessary extra planes to compete. Still, betting on extra frills rather than extra flights, American President Marion Sadler vows to take half the business with a new fleet of short-haul BAC-111 jets and "make money on it too."

Riding six abreast on the jets replacing Eastern's piston planes, Air-Shuttle passengers get to buy a ticket and read their own newspaper. American's Jet Express, by contrast, offers two-class service, continental breakfast, $1 drinks after 11:30 a.m. and coffee any time -- while matching the Shuttle with a $16 tourist fare and 16 daily flights.

Though they must make phone reservations, American commuters can side step most of the terminal rigmarole by using a supply of blank "Express Tickets," to be turned in on boarding and paid for later by mail.

Eastern's New York-Washington shuttle may be in for a fight before long. "We see these guys standing at our gates with clipboards, making notes," says one Eastern man in Washington. "We know who they are." Eastern takes the position that the Jet Express isn't any way to run an air shuttle. Striking back, its own ads are featuring a stewardess who asks: "Coffee, tea or planes?"

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