Eastern Airlines said it has canceled plans...

Eastern Airlines said it has canceled plans to sell its lucrative shuttle operation in the New York-Washington-Boston air corridor to another subsidiary of its parent company, Texas Air. The move was interpreted by analysts as an effort to improve relations with Eastern’s labor unions, which had strongly opposed the sale. Eastern declined to explain the decision, but an attorney for the International Assn. of Machinists called it “very good news” and said that if the shuttle had been spun off, “it would have been the end of Eastern Airlines as we know it.” The machinists union has charged that Texas Air plans to sell off the assets of unionized Eastern. The union sued to prevent such transfers and initially won an injunction in federal court. However, last month an appeals court lifted the order.