Where have all the airlines gone? Take a look at South Florida’s failures
With the demise of Spirit, the company joins other South Florida-based airlines that have halted operations and disappeared.
Here’s a look:
Silver Airways
Fort-Lauderdale-based Silver Airways shut down in 2025 after unsuccessfully trying to sell itself. Silver flew to and from Florida, the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and other Caribbean airports. Silver Airways had a hub in Fort Lauderdale and also flew to Tampa, Tallahassee, Key West and Pensacola .The airline filed for bankruptcy in December 2024.
Eastern Airlines
Miami-based Eastern shut down in 1991 after filing for bankruptcy two years earlier. The company had a landmark headquarters building on the northern flank of Miami International Airport, and many of its employees lived nearby in Miami Springs and Virginia Gardens. The airline’s name has lived on through the charter-flight market.
Miami Air International
The charter-flights company ceased operations in 2020 after filing for bankruptcy.
National Airlines
Miami-based National Airlines, with orange-trimmed planes, a sun on the tail and suggestive TV ads, was a precursor to the flash and brash of Miami decades later. In 1980, National merged with Pan Am, with the airline operating those routes until it ceased operations in 1991. The National name later surfaced on a cargo-flight company, but without the familiar colors and logo of its heady passenger days.
Air Florida
Miami-based Air Florida started out as a commuter company, expanded to key cities in the state and then evolved into a full-service carrier with flights to the Northeast and even Europe. The orange, blue and green planes, with the distinctive “AF” logo on the tail were all over the Miami airport from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s. The airline declared bankruptcy before being absorbed by another airline in 1984. Air Florida’s problems started after a 1982 plane crash into the icy Potomac in Washington, D.C.
This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 7:05 AM.