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I’ve been traveling for enough years that I’ve seen lots of airlines come and go. Of course, there are lots of airlines that disappeared and I knew nothing about them, so I can’t say that I “miss” them. But of the ones I’ve been on, or knew of, that are no longer with us, there are a handful that I really liked and wish were still around.

Virgin America

Virgin America was a low-cost airline that used branding licensed from the UK-based Virgin Group (Virgin Group originally wanted to run the airline itself but the Department of Transportation denied the attempt). They ran flights from the summer of 2008 through the Spring of 2018, when its merger with Alaska Airlines was completed.

We only flew Virgin America a small handful of times. I’m pretty sure that the original appeal for me was that they offered Wi-Fi (they were the first airline to offer Wi-Fi on every flight, via Gogo, in 2009). However, just as we like the “vibe” of Virgin Voyages cruise ships, Virgin America had that same “sophisticated but cheeky” personality (if you can say an airline has a “personality.” Probably the wrong word, but you know what I mean, right?). I mean, who couldn’t smile when they had employees like this?

People Express

People Express wasn’t around for very long – its first flight was in the Spring of ’81, and it merged with Continental Airlines in mid-1986. I’m pretty sure I only flew on them twice – a R/T ski trip from EWR to…oh geesh, I don’t remember. The ski trip was in Bethel, Maine. So maybe Portland? Back in March ’85.

Anyway, I hadn’t flown a whole lot by that point. So “flying,” in and of itself, was still a novelty for me. Plus I was with friends, not my parents, which always made things more fun. But for me, the highlight was the super cheap prices (I want to say we paid cash for the flight, while on the plane? Could that even be right???) and the Rachel’s Brownies that they sold. Best brownies I’ve ever purchased.

Pan Am & TWA

My affection for Pan Am and TWA are not from my flights on their planes – to be honest, I don’t think I ever flew either. It’s more the “fake nostalgia” from their legacy. Sort of like being nostalgic about the film A Christmas Story – even though you never lived “that life,” you still look back on “Ralphie’s” life fondly, as a slice of Americana. Anyway, Pan Am and TWA were part of the “golden age of flying.” That glorious time, during the 50s and 60s, when flying was considered glamorous and special.

Pan Am

Although Pan American World Airways has been gone for decades (it ceased operations in 1991), there are still snippets of it and its memory, around:

• The airline’s first office is still standing in Key West, FL and has been converted into a restaurant. We visited in Spring of 2021 and it’s lovely.
• Pan Am Flight Academy is the one active division of Pan Am that’s still actively up and running.
• The Pan Am Experience has remained closed since COVID. But it was typically “a weekly retro-themed event for aviation enthusiasts and people looking for a new fine-dining experience.” Debuting in 2014, it was co-founded by Anthony Toth (a self-proclaimed Pan Am superfan) and Talaat Captan, founder and CEO of Air Hollywood. Here’s a good explanation of the Pan Am Experience. And this is our review of when Joe and I went.
• It was the subject of a TV series that ran from 2011 to 2012, which spawned all sorts of cool, retro merchandise.
• Pan Am has announced a historic 2025 journey by privately chartered jet, scheduled for later this month. The trip, which is supported by Pan American World Airways and the Pan Am Museum Foundation, will trace the legendary Southern and Northern Transatlantic Routes pioneered by Pan American World Airways.
• Its brand is still available for licensing.

TWA

Following being absorbed by American Airlines in 2001, TWA continued to exist as an LLC under American Airlines until July 1, 2003.

On December 16, 2013, Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines Group, announced that TWA heritage aircraft would be added in the future. On November 16, 2015, American painted a 737-823 in the TWA livery (with American title).

However, (what I consider to be) best of all is the TWA Hotel, which opened at JFK Airport in May 2019. It utilizes the head house of the TWA Flight Center, designed in 1962 by the architect Eero Saarinen, and they added one building on each side of the existing head house for the hotel rooms. The TWA Hotel contains a total of 512 rooms, as well as conference space, several restaurants, and an aviation history museum. And don’t forget the Lockheed L-1649A “Super Star” Constellation parked at the TWA Hotel! They turned her into a bar named “Connie.”

Eastern Airlines

I admit that my fondness for Eastern Airlines is 100% because of nostalgia (ACTUAL nostalgia, not “fake legacy” nostalgia). From 1971 to 1989, they were “the official airline of Walt Disney World,” which is undoubtedly why my parents chose them when we flew to Disney – my very first flight! – when I was 12.

We didn’t take any photos of the flight (film was expensive, I guess?) to pique my memory, so my remembrance of the flight is hazy. I do remember I had a window seat and loved – and I mean LOVED – looking out the window for our flight from EWR to MCO. Smoking was still allowed on planes at the time, and although I don’t remember if Eastern blocked off smoking sections by the time of our flight or not, I remember the smell of cigarettes.

Anyway, here’s a website with some great visuals of Eastern Airlines during its heyday as “the official airline of Walt Disney World.”

Incidentally, my husband and I DID fly on an Eastern branded plane in 2016…but it wasn’t nearly the same. 😉

Your turn!

What airlines do you miss and why?

***Feature photo courtesy of Mike Kelley / Air Hollywood

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