Eastern Air Transport inaugurates passenger service between Miami and New York
On January 1, 1931, Eastern Air Transport (later to become known as Eastern Air Lines) inaugurated regularly scheduled passenger service from Miami to New York from Pan Am’s NW 36th Street Airport.
It was a historic event, a collaboration between Pan Am and Eastern that made Miami the clearing point for a coordinated airline passenger system that extended from as far north as Canada to the tip of South America. No other U.S. city could boast such a distinction.
Only nine months earlier, on April 1, 1930, Eastern Air Transport had begun to operate outbound U.S. Air Mail service from the N.W. 36th Street airport. The addition of regularly scheduled passenger service, on January 1, 1931, was the beginning of Eastern’s long tenure at the airport. Though a year later, in January 1932, Eastern moved back to the Municipal Airport for an extended period, it returned to NW 36th Street after being reorganized as Eastern Air Lines in May of 1934 and was identified with 36th Street for the remainder of its history.
Curtiss Kingbirds used for new service
The aircraft chosen by Eastern Air Transport to fly the new service was the Curtiss Kingbird, designed by the Curtiss Wright corporation and produced by the Curtiss Robinson Manufacturing Co. of St. Louis, MO. Eastern was the Kingbird’s biggest customer, acquiring 14 of the aircraft for use on early passenger routes between 1931 and 1934.
Built to accommodate six passengers plus a pilot and copilot (the copilot’s seat could double as a passenger seat), cabin seating was configured in two rows with an aisle in-between. Reclining seats were upholstered in leather. The walls of the cabin were trimmed in walnut and lined with leather up to the height of the windows. The aircraft also included a baggage compartment and a lavatory and wash basin.
The Kingbird was powered by a pair of Wright Whirlwind air-cooled engines rated at 225 HP each. It cruised at roughly 115 miles per hour. Its high‑wing layout offered wide views of the ground below and some reports claim that passengers could actually open the windows to get better views and let in fresh air!
At left: Image courtesy Flight International Magazine, January 1, 1931
The January 1 inaugural celebration was preceded by a breakfast at the 36th Street terminal restaurant hosted by Eastern Air Transport and organized by the Greater Miami Airport Association. Among the 50 guests in attendance were Miami Springs Mayor G. Carl Adams and city officials and prominent residents of both Dade and Broward County.
Following the breakfast, at 11:15 AM, when the first two Eastern Air Transport Curtiss Kingbirds took off from the 36th Street airfield for Atlanta, they were escorted by a squadron of local planes to mark the historic significance of the event.
- https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-miami-news-01-january-193/167345500
- https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-miami-daily-news-02-jan-1/167345873