Maneuvers

In a dull stockmarket Eastern Air Lines sparkled with starry brightness, climbed from $42 a share to $56.

Last week rival airline operators thought they knew what was in the wind. They guessed that: 1) W. R. Grace & Co., ship operators, were bidding the stock up in building up their holdings in Eastern; 2) Eastern in turn was set to buy Grace's 50% stock ownership in lusty money-making Pan American-Grace Airways.

There would be logic aplenty for such dealings. Eastern expects to operate a postwar route from the U.S. to the Canal Zone, northern terminus of Panagra, which operates down the Andean-wrinkled west coast of South America to Chile, and over the hump to Buenos Aires. Such a hookup would give Panagra its long-sought entrance into the U.S., and give Eastern through connections on the short route to Latin America. Pan American Airways, which now ferries Panagra traffic between the U.S. and Balboa, could be bypassed.

But if Eastern should acquire Grace's half control of Panagra, it would still not be free of arch-rival Pan Am. The reason: Pan Am owns the other half of Panagra.

Pan American Airways did not let the week pass without shaking a fist at its potential rivals who dream of spanning the oceans. Pan Am swooped into the office of the Civil Aeronautics Board and filed applications for eight domestic air routes. While it was about it, Pan Am picked the best--New York to Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami and New Orleans; Chicago to Miami and New Orleans; Seattle to Los Angeles.

With the applications Pan Am frankly stated why it wanted these plums: if domestic airlines are licensed by CAB to elbow into postwar overseas routes, there is no reason why Pan Am should not crowd its rivals for a share of their rich domestic traffic.

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