Eastern Airlines was from the 1920’s until the 1980’s the primary airline transporting people to/from Florida In the days of airline regulation, Eastern was awarded the bulk of lucrative north/south routes from Florida.
Eastern served 15 Florida destinations in 1970. Below is a list of where Eastern flew from Florida, in a timetable dated 50 years ago today – April 26, 1970.
Keep in mind this is BEFORE the hub & spoke concept had begun and during the era of airline regulation so while Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami and New York effectively served as Eastern hubs, a lot of unique point-to-point flights were flown and some obvious routes from so-called hubs (Like Miami to Los Angeles which Eastern spent the whole decade trying to get authority to fly) were not because they were property of other airlines during the highly-regulated 1970’s in US aviation.
Daytona Beach
Atlanta, Baltimore, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando
Fort Lauderdale
Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago-O’Hare, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, Freeport, Hartford/Springfield, Nassau, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Tampa, West End, West Palm Beach
Gainesville
Jacksonville, Ocala
Jacksonville
Atlanta, Augusta, Chicago-O’Hare, Daytona Beach, Gainesville, New York-LaGuardia, Orlando, Titusville/Cocoa, Washington-National
Melbourne
Atlanta, Miami, Orlando
Miami
Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas/Fort Worth, Daytona Beach, Detroit, Freeport, Greensboro, Hartford/Springfield, Indianapolis, Melbourne, Nassau, New Orleans, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Newark, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, Raleigh/Durham, St Louis, St Thomas, San Juan, Tampa, Titusville/Cocoa, Toronto, Vero Beach, Washington-Dulles, Washington-National, West End, West Palm Beach
Ocala
Gainesville, Vero Beach
Orlando
Atlanta, Chicago-O’Hare, Daytona Beach, Huntsville, Jacksonville, Melbourne, Miami, New Orleans, New York-JFK, Philadelphia, Tallahassee, Titusville/Cocoa, Washington-National
NOTE: When Walt Disney World opened the next year and Eastern was named “Official Airline of Walt Disney World,” Orlando service increased dramatically.
Pensacola
Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery
Sarasota/Bradenton
Atlanta, Chicago-O’Hare, Syracuse, Tampa
Tallahassee
Atlanta, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach
Tampa/St Petersburg/Clearwater (Tampa Int’l)
Atlanta, Boston, Chicago-O’Hare, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas/Fort Worth Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Louisville, Miami, New York-JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St Louis, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Washington-National, West Palm Beach
Titusville/Cocoa
Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando
Vero Beach
Miami, Ocala
West Palm Beach
Atlanta, Chicago-O’Hare, Fort Lauderdale, Freeport, Miami, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Newark, Philadelphia, Tallahassee, Tampa, Washington-National
