Do you remember these airlines in Miami? Looking back at Eastern, National and Pan Am

By Jeff Kleinman

Updated March 8, 2022 12:31 PM

An Eastern Airlines L-1011 TriStar takes off from Miami International Airport. The tower is at left. Bob East Miami Herald File

If you were flying out of Miami in the 1950s, ‘60s or ‘70s, there’s a good chance you would use one of the three big airlines that had bases in the Magic City: Eastern, National and Pan Am.

Eastern had a special place in Miami’s heart — and in its economic engine. The airline’s headquarters and hub meant a devoted following and employment base. Neighborhoods around the airport were filled with Eastern accountants, mechanics, painters, pilots and their families.

Pan Am, known for its international flights, had roots in Miami as the base of the “clipper” seaplane service out of Coconut Grove. The terminal is now Miami City Hall.

Miami-based National Airlines, with orange-trimmed planes and suggestive TV ads, was a precursor to the flash and brash of Miami decades later.

All three airlines fell victim to financial problems and eventually folded their wings.

Eastern came back as a charter service. Pan Am came back as a smaller airline. The name “National Airlines” is on a new company that focuses on cargo. When Eastern and Pan Am were reincarnated, the new planes sported those familiar colors and logos, a site that briefly stirred our hearts and memories.

Here is a look back in pictures of the heady days when Eastern, Pan American and National dominated the skies and flew high over Miami.