Eastern's Purger

As chairman and chief executive of Eastern Air Lines since 1963, Floyd D. Hall, 57, a handsome former pilot, might well be thought accountable for the financial tailspin that may cause the line to report a loss of as much as $30 million this year, v. a profit of nearly $20 million in 1972. But Hall's reaction has been to start a purge of the rest of the management. Recently, three of Eastern's 59 vice presidents left the company, and another three were reassigned, following about a dozen executives of slightly lower rank. Last week the shake-up was climaxed by the resignation of President Samuel L. Higginbottom, 52, an engineer who had been Hall's No. 2 man since 1970.

Pinning responsibility for the slump is difficult. Eastern's traffic has not come up to expectations, early operating costs of its Lockheed L-1011 were much higher than anticipated, and Eastern was badly hurt by the December crash of an L-1011 in the Everglades, which has officially been blamed on pilot error. In any case, there is no question that Hall is now in total command, and will have to take responsibility for what happens next. His most immediate task is to convince skeptical banks and brokers, some of whom are recommending that their clients sell Eastern stock, that he has a practical plan for pulling out of the nosedive. As first steps, he announced a program of layoffs, slashes in next year's ad and capital spending budgets, and a 10% salary cut for Eastern executives.

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