Eastern 1972
Flight 306
Eastern Airlines Flight 306 landing at Buffalo Airport, 1972.

Eastern Airlines was a major American airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution it was headquartered at Miami International Airport.   Eastern was one of the "big four" domestic airlines created by the Spoils Conferences of 1930 and was headed by World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker in its early years. It had a near monopoly in air travel between New York and Florida from the 1930s until the 1950s and dominated this market for decades afterward.  In the late 1970s and early 1980s, during the deregulation, labor disputes and high debt loads strained the company under the leadership of former astronaut Frank Bormon.  Frank Lorenzo acquired Eastern in 1985 and moved many of its assets to his other airlines, including Continental Airlines and Texas Air. After continued labor disputes and a crippling strike in 1989, Eastern ran out of money and was liquidated in 1991.



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