Ripe, Florida soil, implanted with the right seed at the right time, tended by the optimum gardeners, and fertilized with deregulation, can spur tremendous airline growth in a short time—so much so, in fact, that a tiny intrastate carrier can eclipse its boundaries and be transformed into an intercontinental one. That, in essence, is the story of Air Florida. But, when negative circumstances align, it can also be taken to its demise just as quickly.
Intrastate Carrier
“In the 1970s, Miami was developing into a thriving metropolis,” according to Daniel Morley in his “Throwback Thursday in Aviation History: Air Florida” article (Airline Geeks, Internet, December 16, 2015). “The Dolphins were experiencing their best years, a new influx of citizens had recently arrived from Cuba, and tourism was booming. To take advantage of this boom in tourism in the Sunshine State, Eli Timoner, a Miami native, formed Air Florida…”
Loyal to his home state and identifying its need, he sought to provide it with much-lacking intra-Florida air service. But what was lacking in his plan was a person who had the necessary marketing experience in the Miami area. Toward that end, he hired Ted Griffin. Not only had he been in the marketing department of Eastern Airlines, but he would be ideal to serve as the new carrier’s president—which he ultimately did.
What was also needed was the right aircraft with which to offer the intended low-fare, short-distance travel. In this case, the quad-engine, fuel-guzzling, former Pan American Boeing 707-320B could not have been more wrong for such an operation. However, it was cheaply available, and it gave it its initial wings, enabling it to inaugurate two daily roundtrips on the triangular route to and from Miami via Orlando and St. Petersburg on September 27, 1972.
Early expansion was slow and subtle. Tallahassee was added to the route system in the fall of 1973, and Tampa came on line the following summer. And, although the three Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops registered N23AF, N24AF, and N25AF that replaced the 707s sported propellers, they were more economical to operate, and their low fares never failed to attract passengers.
Its equipment image, however, quickly changed when it acquired what would total eight 90-passenger DC-9-10 twinjets throughout its history, introducing the first of them during the latter part of the decade, as emphasized by its July 1 and December 9, 1977 system timetables, which respectively advertised “DC-9 jet service” and “All jet. All the time.”
Featuring a dark red and blue livery and a pair of lips below the cockpit windows, the aircraft were part of its “Air Florida Kiss” marketing campaign, which entailed “keeping it sweet and simple” in terms of basic air transportation, fares, and the absence of restrictions.
By September of 1978, its Florida footprint had become larger and now encompassed Daytona Beach. Ft. Lauderdale, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Key West, Marathon, Miami, Orlando, Panama City, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach. And in what could be considered the intrastate airline’s first step off of its shores, it also touched down in Eleuthera, Freeport, Marsh Harbour, Nassau, Rock Sound, and Treasure Cay in the Bahamas.
Boeing 727 trijets, appearing in the same dark red and blue paint scheme, provided increased capacity. However, its 1977 earnings failed to eclipse the $10 million mark, and only cash infusions kept it aloft. What was needed was the right person to cultivate the carrier’s initial crop into something that would sprout beyond its state-reflecting name—something that would transform it from an intrastate airline to an intercontinental one.
Ed Acker, former president of Braniff International, was that person, and deregulation was the channel to his success.
Intercontinental Carrier
“(Acker) spotted an investment opportunity in an intrastate puddle jumper called Air Florida,” according to Barbara Sturken Peterson and James Glab in Rapid Descent: Deregulation and the Shakeout in the Airlines (Simon and Schuster, 1994, pp 142-143). “Figuring that the airline could profit from National’s and Eastern’s decision to cut back on flights within Florida, (he) bought several hundred thousand dollars’ worth of stock in the carrier… He moved to Miami and took over management of the company as CEO in 1977. When deregulation came next year, Air Florida expanded rapidly, and by 1981, its fleet had grown from three airplanes to 40, and its profits were in the millions.”
No longer restricted by Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) approvals and regulations, the Airline Deregulation Act (ADA) of 1978 enabled airlines to freely enter and exit markets, operate the equipment of their choice, set their fares, determine their frequencies, and establish the level of on-board amenities.
“With the easing of CAB regulations and the passing of the Airline Deregulation Act, the industry entered an era of intense competition,” according to Alexander T. Wells and John G. Wensveen in Air Transportation: A Management Perspective (Wadsworth, 1994, p. 211). “Major airlines and the former local service carriers began competing with one another; charter carriers moved into scheduled service; and former intrastate carriers, such as Air Florida…moved into interstate markets…”
Because of these freedoms, Air Florida’s rise was meteoric, and its footprint widened to include the Caribbean and Central America. The Boeing 737-200, which would number some 35 throughout its history, introduced a new blue-and-green color scheme and became the workhorse of its fleet. Accommodating 129 six-abreast, single-class passengers in 22 seat rows, it crossed the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico to its ever-mounting number of destinations.
Light meals, served in transparent trays by DeSter, typically included croissants, sandwiches, and potato salad, and an inflight publication, Skylines, was soon tucked in all seat pockets.
Annual passenger numbers steadily rose—from 1.1 million in 1979 to 1.7 million in 1980 and to 2.7 million in 1981.
Its system timetables, like early company archives, documented its route expansion: Philadelphia and St. Croix on February 1, 1979; Philadelphia from Washington and Jacksonville on July 28, 1979; all-jet service to Key West on September 6, 1979; and Houston from Miami on January 12, 1980.
It entered the widebody, dual-class, transatlantic era to London-Gatwick from Miami by leasing two former Transamerica DC-10-30s registered N101TV and N102TV and a Flying Tigers one registered N1035F.
Their first-class cabins, in a six-abreast, twin-aisle configuration, featured sheepskin-covered seats, and service was of the multiple-course, restaurant type.
The covers of its timetables continued to document its unrelenting expansion: Amsterdam and Brussels on January 15, 1980; Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, and San Jose, Costa Rica, on November 15, 1980; Bermuda and Shannon, Ireland, on July 1, 1981; Guatemala on April 25, 1982; Oslo, Norway, and Stockholm, Sweden, on September 8, 1982; and Madrid, Zurich, Frankfurt, and Dusseldorf on April 15, 1983.
Even a year and a half earlier, it served some 40 cities in Florida and the US, Bermuda, and the Bahamas in the Atlantic, multiple islands in the Caribbean, the major capitals in Central America, and Europe, and would eventually leave its footprint on an additional 20.
Most of its original intrastate route system was now served by several other airlines, providing two-letter code-share, joint ticketing, and through baggage check service under the “Air Florida Commuter” guise.
“Flights are operated by independent contractors under an agreement with Air Florida approved by the Civil Aeronautics Board,” the 1982 Air Florida Commuter System Timetable advised. “These flights are operated with Nord 262, M-404, Cessna 402, Trislander, Islander, Beech 99, de Havilland Twin Otter, and Piper Chieftain equipment.”
The right people, elements, and circumstances had transformed Air Florida from an intrastate carrier to an intercontinental one in a few short years. But the wrong ones would turn it into a bankrupt one—and this time, in only a few short months.
Bankrupt Carrier
After only a dozen years of existence, Air Florida’s growth was reversed and reduced to a size smaller than the seed from which it sprouted in the Sunshine State’s soil.
Ed Acker, who was instrumental in its rise, left in 1981 to orchestrate the ultimately unsuccessful restructuring of Pan Am. But, after he did, the carrier made an equally unsuccessful attempt to acquire Western Airlines to spread its footprint to this half of the country, as well as to Canada and Mexico. Other than its 16 percent stake, it only gave it debt.
The following year, on January 13, the crash of an Air Florida 737-200 immediately after takeoff from Washington-National Airport in the midst of a winter snowstorm and the loss of 78 lives unshackled public confidence in the carrier. And the expired but unrenewable leases on its DC-10-30s left its flight crews idle and its transatlantic flights inoperable. A year and half of unprocessed credit card purchases cemented its fate.
The final pull of the carrier’s roots took place on July 3, 1984, when it was forced to declare bankruptcy after a 12-year rise, run, and fall, paving the way for Midway Airlines to acquire most of its assets.
