Pitcairn Aviation

Eastern Air Lines

IATA ICAO Callsign EA EAL EASTERN
Founded	1926 (1926) (as Pitcairn Aviation)
Ceased operations	1991 (1991)
Operating bases	Miami International Airport
Hubs	Charlotte/Douglas International Airport Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport John F. Kennedy International Airport (New York City) Kansas City International Airport LaGuardia Airport (New York City) Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport (San Juan)
Focus cities	O'Hare International Airport (Chicago) Orlando International Airport Tampa International Airport
Frequent-flyer program	OnePass
Fleet size	304
Destinations	140
Company slogan	List of slogans "First in on-time dependability" (1963) "See How Much Better An Airline Can Be" (1963-late 1960s) "We want everyone to fly" (1967-late 1960s) "Number one to the sun" (late 1960s) "We earn our wings every day" (early 1970s-mid-1980s) "The wings of man" (1970s-mid-1980s) "We Have To Earn Our Wings Every Day" (1980-mid-1980s) "We've got your sunshine" (mid-1980s) "America's Favorite way to Fly" (Spanish variant: "Su forma favorita de volar") (late 1980s) "Official Airline of the Tampa Bay Bucs" (late 1980s) "100 Days" (Early 1990-1991) “The second largest airline in the free world”
Parent company	Eastern Air Lines, Inc. (Texas Air Corporation now United Continental Holdings )
Headquarters	New York City Miami-Dade County, Florida
Key people	Eddie Rickenbacker (First CEO) Floyd Hall Frank Borman Frank Lorenzo Martin Shugrue

Eastern Air Lines was a major American airline from 1926 to 1991. Before its dissolution it was headquartered at Miami International Airport in an unincorporated area of Miami-Dade County, Florida.

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 Borman. 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.

American Airlines obtained many of Eastern's routes from Miami to Latin America and the Caribbean, while Delta Air Lines, Eastern's main competitor at Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, acquired many of Eastern's Lockheed L-1011 aircraft. USAir acquired 11 of Eastern's 25 Boeing 757-225 aircraft.

Eastern pioneered hourly air shuttle service between New York City, Washington, DC and Boston in 1961 as the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle. It took over the South American route network of Braniff International in 1982 and also served London and Madrid in the 1980s.

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Wikipedia