Eastern Airlines First Flight Miami Florida Airport - Barranquilla Colombia 1981

Description

Nonstop service to
Barranquilla, Colombia
from Miami was begun on June 1, 1981 and the flight
was recognized with an official cachet
.
This cover was carried on the inaugural Eastern Airlines flight from the Miami, Florida Airport Mail Facility to Barranquilla, Colombia
(where it was backstamped
) and is listed in The American Air Mail Catalogue as EA-F53f.
Texas Air Corporation, parent corporation of Continental Airlines, New York Air and People Express, purchased Eastern Airlines on October 1, 1986. Eastern Airlines continued to operate as a separate airline. Operations were not integrated with any of the Texas Air owned companies.
As a result of labor disputes, Eastern Airlines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 9, 1989 and significantly cut back on its operation. After the initial reduction, Eastern Airlines slowly rebuilt its system with service to a few of the points previously served with a smaller number of flights. Eastern sold its lucrative “Shuttle” operation to Donald Trump and, in addition, sold off a large number of aircraft.
Eastern Airlines ceased operations on January 18, 1981. This concluded the long history of an airline that
could trace it roots back to May 1, 1928, with the first service of Pitcairn Aviation, Inc. In 1990, Eastern Airlines had sold its Central and South American routes to American Airlines and had been in receivership since declaring bankruptcy on March 9, 1989.