Business: 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...