The Eastern name to return to the skies of South Florida this afternoon

Eastern Air Lines Group, Inc. (2nd) (Miami) today will bring back the Eastern name to the skies of South Florida. Boeing 737-8AL N276EA (msn 35070, ex 5Y-KYB) departed Shannon at 0026 UTC this morning bound for Portsmouth, New Hampshire (PSM). After clearing customs and immigration and refueling the 737 will continue to Miami International Airport (MIA). The aircraft will fly down the coast of South Florida to South Beach before turning to MIA where it is expected to arrive around 1500 (3 pm) to the traditional water cannon salute and official welcome. N276EA will be utilized for crew training and the FAA airline certification process. Once the Air Operators Certificate (AOC) is obtained in 2015 the airline is expected to start operations as a charter airline.

Above: The aircraft has now stopped at Portsmouth. Follow the progress of N276EA via FlightAware: CLICK HERE

The new Eastern describes its current status on its website:

In late 2011, a professional group of airline managers acquired the intellectual property of Eastern Air Lines to develop a new business and financing plan to re-launch the airline, and formed Eastern Air Lines Group, Inc.

The team put together a plan to re-launch Eastern to be based at Miami International Airport (“MIA”). It quickly established working relationships with strategic partners including the Miami Airport Authority, Amadeus and Boeing.

Eastern’s relationship with Amadeus dates back to Eastern’s reservation system, called System One. This system was eventually sold by Eastern and later became the core of the Amadeus system. Eastern also has a special and unique relationship with Boeing dating back to the 1930s– Eastern was the first to operate the Boeing 727 and the 757.

The team developed a multi-level business and financing plan that was successfully used to raise the capital required for Eastern to be certified under FAA Regulation Part 121. That work has commenced, led by one of the industry’s leading certification consultants, Locked On. Today, the new Eastern is working with various industry-leading aircraft leasing companies to assemble a fleet of 737–Next Generation aircraft, and has signed an initial order with Boeing for new 737-800 aircraft with deliveries commencing in April 2017.

In addition, Eastern has moved into its headquarters office space at Building 5A at MIA, which was the former Eastern Operations Center, a four story building at the corner of LeJeune and 36th Street, and which once housed all of Eastern’s system control and maintenance control centers, and other operating units.

Eastern has commenced its filings with the DOT and is currently preparing its formal submissions for the FAA. See News and Press Releases for updates.

Eastern Air Lines Group, Inc. has also formed several subsidiaries to assist in its growth in the years to come. These subsidiaries are “Eastern Shuttle” and “Eastern Express.” As well, Eastern has formed its new mileage and loyalty program, called “LatinOnePass,” also known as “LatinOne.”

Top Photo: Eastern Air Lines Group, Inc. A rainbow glistens the first aircraft of the new Eastern at Shannon. The aircraft is now registered as N276EA and appropriately named the “Spirit of Capt. Eddie Rickenbacker”.

Below Photo: Eastern Air Lines Group: The uniforms of the new Eastern: