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| Founded | October 2010; 15 years ago (2010-10) (asDynamic Airways) | ||||||
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| Commenced operations | April 2018; 7 years ago (2018-04) (asEastern Airlines) | ||||||
| AOC # | 2DYA074Q[1] | ||||||
| Hubs | Kansas City | ||||||
| Subsidiaries | Eastern Air Express | ||||||
| Fleet size | 9 | ||||||
| Parent company | Eastern Air Holdings Inc. | ||||||
| Headquarters | Kansas City, Missouri | ||||||
| Key people | Brian Randow (President &COO) Until May 2025[needs update][2] Dragan Djordjevic (CFO) Steve Kasteler (EVP)[2] | ||||||
| Website | goeasternair | ||||||
Eastern Airlines, LLC is an American airline headquartered inKansas City, Missouri. The airline operates a mixed fleet of Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 aircraft. Originally founded in 2010 asDynamic Airways, the company rebranded asEastern Airlines in 2018 following a successful bankruptcy restructuring and obtained a license to use the Easternintellectual property fromSwift Air.
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Dynamic Airways was established by Dynamic Aviation with its first aircraft being a second-handMcDonnell Douglas MD-88 delivered a year before operations started in 2009.[3] The airline officially started operations in early October 2010 after receiving itsair operator's certificate.[4]
The airline was headquartered inHigh Point, North Carolina, with its maintenance facilities based inPiedmont Triad International Airport.
As the airline approached its second year of operations, its firstBoeing 767-200 was delivered, followed by the approval for another MD-88 to take to the skies.[citation needed]
Not long after the purchase of the second MD-88, Dynamic announced a three-year partnership flying forHoda Air Services inSouth Korea. The deal, which included an MD-88 supported by a full crew, was the airline's first in Asia. The airline continued to expand more Boeing 767s were delivered, which were, according to the airline, available forACMI wet lease, full charter, and corporate shuttle programs for private and government organizations.[5]
In March 2012, Direct Air temporarily suspended its operations and canceled all charter flights, subsequently filing for bankruptcy. It ceased operations completely shortly after, having racked up millions of dollars in debts. The MD-88 was returned to Dynamic as a result. A[citation needed] third 767 was delivered to Dynamic on March 6.[citation needed] This 767 entered operations in early 2013.
Dynamic operated a successfulwet-lease ACMI forEZjet, operating regular flights fromNew York City toGeorgetown utilizing their 767-200. This operation ceased in 2012, prompting Dynamic's move into regularly scheduled services.
In February 2014, Dynamic Airways entered the Chinese tourism market with a significant operation of scheduled charter flights, capitalizing on the mid-2010s surge in Chinese demand for warm-weather island getaways. Between 2014 and 2016, the airline partnered with major Chinese travel agencies to offer flights from over a dozen cities — includingShanghai,Beijing,Tianjin, andChongqing — to popular island destinations such as the Maldives,Palau, Saipan, andGuam, operating up to 15 flights per month. Dynamic also launched charter services from China to Ontario, California, via a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska. However, facing declining market viability and blame for operational reliability issues, the airline exited the China market in late 2016.[6]
Since 2014, the airline added "International" to its name to when it transitioned from a pure ACMI/charter provider to a scheduled and charter services airline. Dynamic started with the resurrection of the New York to Georgetown route in June 2014, competing withCaribbean Airlines andFly Jamaica Airways on that route, the latter two flying the route as a fifth-freedom service.[7]In 2015, Dynamic also added services fromFort Lauderdale, flying to bothCaracas andRio de Janeiro. In 2016, Dynamic added new routes from New York to the Caribbean and Latin America, commencing service to Caracas (filling a void left afterAmerican Airlines canceled that same route)Cancún, andPunta Cana, and entered both the Chicago and Los Angeles markets, with service fromChicago to bothPunta Cana andCancún, and fromLos Angeles to Cancún andSan Juan.
By August 2016, however, all of the new routes except for the New York to Caracas route had been canceled and the Fort Lauderdale to Caracas service. Soon after those cancellations, Mexican low-cost carrierInterjet began operating some of the canceled routes to and from Cancún.
After summer of 2017, Dynamic withdrew from scheduled services and re-focused as an ACMI operator. In November 2017, Dynamic and its affiliated airlineSwift Air went bankrupt.[8]
_Boeing_767-336(ER)_N703KW_taxiing_at_JFK_Airport.jpg)
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Dynamic exited bankruptcy, and with the rights held by Swift Air, renamed itself asEastern Airlines in April 2018. The airline's viability was to be based on route selection, mostly secondary locations in South America and China. But while the destinations were under-served, there may not have been enough demand to be profitable. The company applied for four non-stop routes, three international, from its proposed JFK New York hub.
On September 1, 2019, the company moved its headquarter fromHigh Point, North Carolina toWayne, Pennsylvania.[9][8] At the end of the month, Eastern joined theBritish Civil Aviation Authority in the largest-ever peacetime repatriation of British citizens after thecollapse of Thomas Cook Airlines, operating flights to bring stranded overseas holidaymakers back to the UK.[10]
On January 12, 2020, Eastern Airlines completed its inaugural scheduled flight to New York fromGuayaquil,Ecuador.[11] During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Eastern Airlines operated extensive repatriation flights from Latin America to the United States. In coordination with the U.S. Department of State and local embassies, the airline conducted over 100 charter flights from approximately 15 countries, including Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Guyana, and El Salvador. These flights brought back more than 17,000 U.S. citizens stranded abroad, with return legs occasionally transporting foreign nationals to their home countries. Eastern primarily used Miami International Airport as its arrival point. The airline’s repatriation efforts were among the largest conducted by a private U.S. carrier during the pandemic.
By May 2020, Eastern planned to purchase several Boeing 767s, with at least five used 777-200s.[8] Since then, Eastern gradually expanded its scheduled passenger operations with a dozen routes between the United States and Latin America.
On September 1, 2021, Eastern Airlines announced the creation of a new cargo subsidiary namedEastern Air Cargo and the addition of 35Boeing 777 Freighters to their fleet attempting to capitalize on the post-pandemic e-commerce shopping surge. These aircraft are 'Class-E' freighters or passenger-to-freighter conversions, with seats, galleys, and lavatories removed—but without full structural modifications—allowing quick turnaround and cost-effective service primarily for light-volume e‑commerce shipments.[12][13][14]
Since late 2021, Eastern pivoted its focused to developing its cargo division and ACMI operations while gradually scaling back its scheduled services citing poor performance and low load factors.
In May 2023, Eastern Airlines announced its plans to acquire charter airlineHillwood Airways to enter the luxury charter market.[15] It was officially purchased on August 15, 2023, but Hillwood continued to operate under its existing brand[16] until it was renamed asEastern Air Express on November 13, 2023.[17] The subsidiary plans to use its Boeing 737s, as indicated in the job vacancies on the website.
In July 2023, theNew England Patriots filed a lawsuit against Eastern Airlines over an alleged breach of contract.[18] Eastern had been the operator of the team's two Boeing 767s since late 2020 until 2024.
In February 2024, Eastern announced that it had moved its headquarters from Pennsylvania toKansas City, Missouri, to be close to its cargo and overhaul presence atKansas City International Airport, and to create more jobs there.[19]
Eastern Airlines performs deportation flights under contract forU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to destinations such asBrazil andVenezuela. N225NE, aBoeing 767 owned by theNew England Patriots and with team colors and logos, was flown by Eastern Airlines for deportations toHonduras.[20][21][22][23]
Until 2017, Dynamic Airways was owned as follows,[24]
After a successful bankruptcy restructuring in 2017, Dynamic Airways was owned by Olga Alauof (70%) and Woolley (30%).
Since February 2024, Eastern Airlines does not operate scheduled flights after canceling its once-monthly Miami to Santo Domingo route.[25]
| Country | City | Airport | Notes | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dominican Republic | Santo Domingo | Las Américas International Airport | Terminated | [25] |
 Ecuador | Guayaquil | José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport | Terminated | |
 Guyana | Georgetown | Cheddi Jagan International Airport | Terminated | [26] |
 Nicaragua | Managua | Augusto C. Sandino International Airport | Terminated | |
 Paraguay | Asunción | Silvio Pettirossi International Airport | Terminated | [27] |
 United States | Boston | Logan International Airport | Terminated | |
| Miami | Miami International Airport | Hub Terminated | ||
| New York City | John F. Kennedy International Airport | Terminated | ||
 Uruguay | Montevideo | Carrasco International Airport | Terminated | [28] |
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As of June 2025, the Eastern Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | Y | Total | ||||
| Boeing 767-300ER | 4 | — | 30 | 212 | 242 | All aircraft are parked. |
| Boeing 777-200ER | 2 | — | 380 | 380 | – | |
| Total | 6 | — | ||||
The airline formerly operated the following aircraft (including those flown for Dynamic Airways):
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boeing 767-200 | 3 | 2011 | 2024 | Last commercial operator of the type. |
| Boeing 767-200ER | 5 | 2011 | 2023 | |
| Boeing 767-200ER/BDSF | 2 | 2014 | 2016 | Operated for21 Air. |
| Boeing 777-300ER | 2 | 2022 | 2023 | Purchased for parts, never entered service. |
| McDonnell Douglas MD-88 | 2 | 2010 | 2012 |
Like Classic Air Charters, the GEO group did not actually fly any of these planes themselves. They subcontracted with iAero, World Atlantic, Global Crossings Airlines, and Eastern Airlines (note: this is not your parents' Eastern Airlines, but a much smaller regional carrier operating in the Caribbean). Between September 19 and October 7, there were 70 removal flights to Haiti involving about 7,600 people. At least 64 of these flights were under the GEO Group contract.
The planes were purchased by the Patriots in 2017 and are currently operated by Eastern Airlines, the report said, and the Patriots last used one of them for their January playoff game against the Bills in Buffalo.
Media related toEastern Airlines at Wikimedia Commons
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