Air Florida was an American low-cost carrier that operated from 1971 to 1984. In 1975 it was headquartered in the Dadeland Towers in what is now Kendall, Florida in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Air Florida was based at Miami International Airport. It was founded in September 1971 by a Miami, Florida, native, Eli Timoner, and was organized by company president Ted Griffin, a former marketing director of Eastern Airlines. It started revenue operations on September 28, 1972, using two Boeing 707 jetliners purchased from Pan American World Airways and offering thrice-daily service in Florida from Miami to Orlando to St.Petersburg. The airline later acquired Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprop aircraft. Although the airline began operations as an intrastate air carrier flying wholly within Florida, it subsequently began added domestic and international destinations outside of the state. With this expansion, Air Florida's fleet grew to include Boeing 727, Boeing 737, Douglas DC-9, and McDonnell Douglas DC-10 jetliners.

Ed Acker, formerly CEO of Braniff International Airways, led an acquisition of Air Florida in 1975 and expanded the airline into the interstate market following the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978. In addition to Air Florida having a large presence in the Northeast-to-Florida market during the 1970s and 1980s, the airline also expanded internationally and served various points in the Caribbean and Central America, as well as a number of European destinations including Amsterdam, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Shannon and Zurich. The European services were primarily flown with McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft, although British Island Airways provided connecting passenger service with their British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven jets for Air Florida on some intra-European route segments with an example being London-Amsterdam . Air Florida was well known for its attractive flight attendants and, on international flights, four-star cuisine. In 1981, shortly before the crash of Air Florida Flight 90, Acker left Air Florida to become the Chairman, CEO and President of Pan American World Airways.

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