Gone But Not Forgotten: Airlines We Wish Would Come Back
By Marisa Garcia
Last month brought news that Eastern Airlines would be resurrected — in a way — with a brand reboot that would operate out of Miami. Considering the track record of relaunches, we don’t expect much.
And last week marked the final AirTran flight, as the brand was integrated into Southwest Airlines.
Even if you aren’t a true-blue, jet-fuel-in-the-veins, twin-engine-powered aviation geek (#AvGeek), you may have longed for the return of a long-defunct airline. Icons of a bygone era, they owe their enduring appeal to fortunes spent defining and refining their brands. Their competition funded the development of new aircraft, aviation technology, and a great many cabin innovations, but came with high fares that made flying a luxury most could not afford. In the 1980s, deregulation brought the party to an end. Airlines that couldn’t cope with new economic realities folded, but the brands they built endure.
