I Flew America's Most BIZARRE Airline: 1 FLIGHT A MONTH! 

Eastern is mainly a charter airline operating under Supplemental rules. In order to maintain Domestic/Flag currency with the FAA, they have to operate a scheduled flight at least once every 30 days. And you found it.

Man if you were on a 767 in business class seats back in '84 you were absolutely living. Kick up your footrest, spark up a Marlboro, and watch some Risky Business on the ceiling screen. That is how you know you had it made.

Fun facts! This is the only 767-200 left in commercial service; this is one of the oldest planes left in commercial service

Eastern was a major airline back in the 70's with lots of international destinations. I flew on a 30 days airpass with unlimited travel in north america, mexico, middle america and the northern parts of south america - for about USD250 including meals and checked in luggage. We went to Santo Domingo, Barranqilla, Mexico City, Montego Bay, Miami, New York. Their main hub used to be Atlanta. It was an incredible journey for a young lad.

Note to wife: don't wait until the flight is over before providing your opinion. Wait until luggage is delivered.

Say what you want about that 767 being 40 years old, but Boeing back then was run by engineers, not accountants. These jets were put together to last an extremely long time with the correct maintenance. I hope Eastern keeps these flying for a bit longer and someone preserves these after they're done!

I’m going to assume that because I’m watching this video, the plane just stayed intact

The flight attendant that greeted you when coming on board had a pin on his chest from the original Eastern Airlines (the wings with their original logo). I flew Eastern a few times when I was a kid in the 80s. Eastern and Pan-Am are both brands I'd love to see flying again in full glory. Oh well... it was still cool to see that FAs wing pin.

Ah! The good ol' "cargo door won't open on the plane" trick explaining the baggage delays. American Airlines uses this trick in Miami all the time as well, can't tell you how many times we waited for hours recently in MIA for bags to show up on the belt ... Every single time, they told us "the cargo door won't open and they needed engineering to fix it". The reality is much simpler than that, they simply don't have employees - that's all. I confirmed this with an AA employee in MIA. Whenever bags are delayed, its either someone (bag handler) didn't show up to their shift on time or at all, or they quit, or the airline simply doesn't have an employee to service the flight on time of arrival. A malfunctioning cargo door would actually send the plane to the hanger for repairs.

This is really interesting. The original Eastern Airlines was founded in 1926. They had a blue logo with the words "Eastern" on the side of the aircraft. They flew several aircraft including the A300, B727 and B747, util they went bankrupt in 1991. Eastern Airlines LLC (Limited Liability Company) came into existence as Dynamic Air in 2010, but the airline was not sustainable, and they filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in 2017. After the restructuring in 2018, they obtained the licence to use the intellectual property of the original Eastern Airlines which was held by Swift Air. They now fly with a hybrid Eastern Airlines and Swift Air livery. They own several B767-200/300/ER and B777-200/300/ER aircraft which flies cargo and passengers. Probably military passengers as per contract you mentioned. They used to fly to Ecuador, Guyana, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Uruguay, but these flights where all terminated. Now they only fly to the Dominican Republic, with plans for a flight to China in the future. As I said, most interesting!

1 hour 40mins must have felt like 5 minutes to you Noel, given the amount of hours you are usually in the air :-) Lovely to see your wife on screen too. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Great video Noel. Despite the age of the aircraft, having the opportunity to fly the iconic 767-200 is something I would do in a second. Was recently at the Delta Museum of Flight in Atlanta where they have The Spirit of Delta 767-200 in one of the hangers completely restored inside and out. Same as this aircraft with the giant video projectors on the ceiling and the pull down screens. Beautiful wide body of the past brings back great memories! Thanks for this fantastic as always and Happy Anniversary to you and Rach !

Just consider that if you were flying on a 40 year old aircraft in 1984 it would be made in 1944. Things have not changed as much from 1984 as they had changed from 1944.

Cargo door issues do not only happen to older planes. My wife and I took a non stop 17 hour flight from LA to Singpapore on a new Singapore Airlines A350. We arrived in Singapore during a heavy rainstorm and the airline could not open the cargo door. We waited at baggage claim for 21/2 hours along with the captain, flight crew and passengers before we finally got our luggage.

Eastern Airlines also manages the New England Patriots two B767-300. During the off season, one of them is used for flights via MIA.

I made my one and only flight on a Constellation on the old Eastern shuttle from Boston to NYC sometime in the later 70's. The Eastern shuttle customarily used contemporary jets (DC-9s or 727s, I forget which) but there was heavy customer traffic that day and they fired up a Connie to accomodate the overflow. I was travelling on business with a half-dozen colleagues and we comandeered the tiny little lounge in the tail. I can still feel the vibration from those big pistons!

Fun fact: Eastern was chartered to fly Australian cruise ship tourists from FLL to SFO to meet up with an extra SFO - SYD segment on United to take them back to Australia when COVID hit.

That used to be Dynamic Airlines, a charter operator, but they were able to get the Eastern brand from their affiliate Swift Air a few years ago when Swift went under. They then rebranded. They had a plane catch fire on the ground in Ft. Lauderdale FL in 2015 which didn't help their finances or image. ACMI (charters) is still their main gig but they have to operate a scheduled flight each month to maintain their certification.

Eastern airlines ran a lot of US embassy repatriation flights from South America to Miami in 2020 for people stuck in various countries.

For those unfamiliar, this Eastern has nothing to do with the huge legacy carrier that once existed. That being said Noel I chuckled when you said there was no signage for EA at MIA. Trust me back in the day you'd have had no problem spotting them. MIA was their home turf.

Good grief, this is pretty bizarre. It’s like being caught in a time warp. It’s kind of weird to see ashtrays on planes.

Loved watching this one! Not only for the 767 relic, but also the banter with Rachel! Hope you enjoyed the vacation! Keep up the great work Noel!

The Hotel room was funky (in a good way) and fun, looked very clean. Love the lil’ pool outside the room. So good to see Rachel and you both as well. Cheers! 🥂

"Are you talking about the plane or you?" My favorite line.

Agent: “thank you have a great flight” Noel: “thanks you too” Lmao 😂

"What do you think about this 40yr old battered old thing"...Rachel- Are you talking about the plane or you? ... That was the best thing said throughout the whole video 😂

The takeoff was quick, wow! It's interesting to see the classic PW logo on the engine, the seats were missing their disposable headrest covers, and such an throwback experience!

Now that Noel flew on it, the next flight will be packed 😁

What do think about this 40 year old thing 😂 perfect response from Rachel!

It was absolutely wonderful to see Rachel again 😀 Wonderful vlog! Love and best wishes, Claire Berlin Germany ❤

Noel, you need to take Rachel on more trips. She's just a cool lady with a great sense of humor.

As a retired airline pilot I cans say that the 767-200 was my all time favorite airplane to fly.

Interesting. I do remember Eastern Airlines from way back - although I'd never flown them. I noticed that the tail sported a smaller version of their original blue & white logo. I think I saw it on the safety card as well. Nice journey back in time 😊

The reason it took so long for your bags to arrive is the cargo bin door ended up being manually cranked opened .

I flew eastern airlines in 1976 from Florida to Philadelphia. Back then it was one of the biggest airlines service. Thanks for your video, good to see that you took Rac along with you hello from Pa.

Ticket Agent: "Have a nice flight" Noel Philips: "You too" Joking aside you asked what was going on with the throttles at 18:12 that was them throttling up with the thrust reverses deployed for more braking.

Between 1987 and 1993 I often flew with Royal Brunai on the 757 then the 767 from Frankfurt to Bangkok. The Boeing 767 was the first twin-engine aircraft to fly non-stop from Frankfurt to Bangkok. Thank you for the nice review.

The last old bird I had the good fortune of flying on was a L1011 Tristar from Tunisia to Manchester in 2005, operated by the Portuguese charter airline Euro Atlantic (CS-TEB) and drafted in as a replacement for our scheduled MyTravel flight which was grounded due to a technical fault. It was only a year older than this plane, but sadly was retired from service in 2010 and stored in an airfield in Jordan.

It's lovely to see you and Rachel travelling together.

I've only been on a 767 twice both times on Delta. I like them. Age is not a big thing to me as long as it's mechanically maintained well.

All credit to that 767-200 surviving up to today, as it started with Egypt Air in the 1980's. It avoided highjackers, intentional explosions, and a time when aircraft were classed as genuine targets in certain parts of the world.

Back in the '80s, Eastern Airlines regularly flew out of EWR, where it had a hub. It usually flew to Florida and the Caribbean. I have vivid memories of flying Eastern to Bermuda in 1986.I even have a salt and pepper shaker from their dining service.

That takeoff reminded me of traveling from Asuncion to Sao Paulo on a 767-300. It's like it floated up and away. At least they didn't leave your bags in Miami because that would have been a bummer to have to wait for the next flight.

What a surprise to see again Eastern flying! I used it several times when I was a child in the route Mexico City - Atlanta. I think those years they had DC-10 in that route. Even, I keep a wing pin with the original logo that my dad gave to me from their brand merchandise. Their new logo remembrance to the original one. Very good memories.

Another fun one Noel! That's was a new headache I never heard of before, "the good news is we didn't lose your luggage,...the bad news is,...we just can't get it off the plane"!😂😂😂👍

Hey there, just wanted to add. Occasionally Eastern will charter this particular 200 to BoA (I’ve actually worked on this one [The Cargo compartment is a travesty lol]). It stays parked in Foxtrot when not being used, normally next to that BoA plane. Since Foxtrot terminal does not get much traffic. On a side note, same with RedAir and World Atlantic at MIA(They operate MD-80s and don’t have many flights).

Great to see Rachel on an adventure with you.

That plane was amazing! Love how it is still flying! I really enjoyed you bringing the wife along! Please do more with her! The hotel was lovely esp with that pool!

for a period of time they operated scheduled services from MIA to various destinations in South America, for example Asuncion and Montevideo. in August 2021 I used them to go from MVD-MIA.

That take off was fantastic, like a rocket with beautiful engine sound! I flew on a lot of 767s in the 80s and 90s this brings back a lot of memories.

They were a major airline for decades up until the early 90's based out of Miami. I still remember riding in my parents' car on the Palmetto Expressway as a kid, and seeing the Eastern Airlines building.

There was a ZIggy cartoon where Ziggy sits in one of the seats toward the back of the plane. A stewardess approaches him, saying something to the effect of, "You're in luck! You have the plane to yourself. A large group going to a psychic convention canceled at the last minute." It makes me laugh every time I see it.

The last old bird I flew on was, a DC-10 in 2003 from Paris to Chicago. It was beat to hell and back with chipped paint and everything and it was owned by Northwest. It had ALL the old school amenities from the overhead projector to the really bad audio system that used those same air based headphones.

Rach is amazing. I love it when she takes a dig at Noyaaal 🤣 Would love to see more of you two travelling.

@noel phillips i have the answer to why that landing seemed hard. The shock absorbers are designed for the airplane to be heavy upon landing using gravity to drop, so the landing will feel hard even if it is in fact very smooth as long as the airplane is near empty, and as far as 767 landings go that was not bad at all, it just felt hard because the aircraft was nearly empty thus the shocks were forced down instead of simply dropping due to the weight.

Thanks for your videos and great information including the cost. Which is very helpful to us. Not like some of other RU-vidrs, that they always flying in first or business class with no information about the cost .majority of people are flying in economy class.

Very nice look at such a nice old plane. It really brings back memories of my flights in the 1980s and I actually like the style of these older planes rather than the jelly bean look. Something about the 1980s stuff is so comforting. It is a much beloved bygone era

The Boliviana CP-3086 minute 7:00 next to you is a 767, too. BOA alone has still 3 of these planes in regular service

Oh man. I remember flying on the old Eastern Airlines back in the '70s and early '80s. It was a really big airline back then, before low-cost airlines were a thing. They even sponsored a ride at Disney World - "If You Had Wings". It was one of the few rides you could go on back then without a separate ticket, so I wound up riding it a lot. It basically just had travel videos from various destinations with the music playing "If You Had Wings" over and over (sort of like "It's a Small World"). At the end it said "You DO have wings. You CAN do all these things. Eastern Airlines will be your wings..." blah blah blah. It eventually got rebranded as "Dreamflight", with Delta sponsoring it. But I took a picture of the "If You Had Wings" sign back in the day, with a bird standing on top of it. I always found that rather amusing. :)

Ashtrays on a plane - ahh, takes me back to the days when I first started flying and I puffed away in the back. Well, it was a DC10….. you needed all the help you could get

There is no better sounding engine than the JT9D. How neat you were able to travel on this historic aircraft!

This Eastern Airlines LLC not the Eastern Airlines founded in the 1920,s and sold to Texas air? in 1986. My first flight was on Eastern airlines in 1970 to Ft Lauderdale a 727. I'll never forget it! Flawless it was.

The engine buzz on take off was amazing

OMG, I reckon watching that plan door opening was totally worth the $500 alone- how cool & glad you got to capture it Noel!! Fully expected you to say however you'd have to swim over to Puerto Rico for the return flight so was tad disappointed when you said there were other airlines for the return journey lolol

My uncle used to work for World Airways which ran as a charter for the armed services and would run troops to different bases and transport supplies. If they were taking troops they had to put in the seating for them to ride on otherwise there were no seats in the planes.

Have a great trip and happy early anniversary! Thanks for sharing this unique trip, I might have to try it out!

You should fly all Ryanair’s 5 different subsidiaries in the same video to compare

Sounds like a pub here in Victoria, Australia. Even when the building is burning down to the ground, a facility (tent) has to be set up within 24 hours with the beer flowing again or else one is losing their alcohol serving license.

Eastern Airlines was one of the major North American Airlines back in the sixties and seventies. They advertised having Whisper Jets. When I was a girl we used to fly Eastern Airlines to Orlando when we would go to Disney World. I'm wondering if any airline fly the old L1011. Those were lovely riding planes

Takes me back to my first flight in the 1980’s on a 767 but I love vintage! Anyone remember Britannia Airways UK?

Eastern was the biggest airline back in the 70's. I flew them numerous times. I grew up in Hialeah Fl and Eastern was one of the biggest employers many of my firnds and family worked for them. My father in law worked for them till they went belly up. Their down fall was when their jumbo L-1011 crashed in the everglades and they never financially recovered. It was a shame they folded they were a great airline with great service. The Eastern you are flying is not remotely the same.

Hey! Thanks for a lovely review,Happy Anniversary to You Both & Happy Birthday!🎉🎉🎉Enjoy your time in Dominican Republic✈️✈️✈️✈️

TBH, 2 hours is about normal for baggage reclaim at JFK these days for fully working planes 😬 Cheers guys!

you would think with the maintenance crew on board they could have had the cargo doors open sooner hahahah LOVE the room!!

I'm extremely curious about Eastern Airlines. For me, they will always be the airline that announces routes that they have zero intentions of actually launching. They announced flights to Belo Horizonte in Brazil some years ago, but that never materialized. I think they did that for several destinations. They even sold tickets! It's a very weird marketing strategy.

If I ever get the nerve to finally start my small Travel Channel, I hope we run into each other to swap stories. I've flown on the most obscure planes throughout the 90's!! You're one of the only guys who would appreciate swapping stories.

The history of Eastern is well worth the dig!! One of the big 'four; after wW2 the CEO was Eddie Rickenbacker. It died as a major in 1991. but Killed off by competition, fuel prices and labor disputes. The name was bought by Dynamic International Airlines in 2015. A couple of years back the only flight was from JFK to GYE. Last year they bought five 777's and flew them not at all.

307am here in seattle watching this noel i gotta say without words i just started belly chuckling when you got in that old loo "funny as hell" man... your travel aviation videos never disappoint and always enjoy them Still watchin. Nice to see the mrs riding with you too! Closest thing i come to a cockpit is flight simulator 2020 been playing them since 1993

2 years ago, Eastern Airlines announced a flight from Chicago to Sarajevo. A few days after the route was put on sale, Eastern Airlines stopped selling tickets. Another excellent video Noel. Happy anniversary. All the best.

Eastern just landed over my head at March Air Base. A military charter from Fort Hood on a 1992 767-300. I’ve seen them fly in before along with Delta, Hawaiian, and Allegiant, but most charters are by Atlas, Omni Air, National. Delta even used to fly their 747’s on some of these flights up until they were retired.

The original Eastern airlines was a legacy carrier that started in the mid 1920s and disappeared around 1991… it was the *other* airline with an iconic blue livery that was overshadowed by PanAm’s 1991 bankruptcy. Eastern was HUGE for East coast travel though, official airline of Walt Disney World for a time, and based out of MIA with flights to BOS/NYC/Orlando/etc… Eastern even tragically lost an L1011 in the Everglades in the early 1970s not far from the ValuJet crash some 20 years later. So yeah, this ain’t OG Eastern, just using the name.

I've flown on a 767-200er MAD-BOG and MAD-CLO, probably about 20 years ago with Avianca. One of the only twin Engine planes that could make the reverse trip at the time, due to the altitude of Bogota. I remember the 2-1-2 business class the one time flew in there ( rest in economy), the overhead projectors, and the P&W engines.

Eastern was one the bigger airlines in the 70’s-80’s. They went bankrupt, so I don’t know if this one is the same Eastern.

Really enjoy your passion for the old jets I love to see even the old Jet2 757s and the 73 300s still in passenger service

I remember going on Britannia 767-200's when they were new. They were fantastic. I'd forgotten what those old tube earphone controls used to look like. That brings back memories.

Hello Noel, For years, Eastern was a legacy carrier. It was the cat's meow with the likes of PAN-AM and the Braniff. As is customary, it went belly-up and has been trying to make a slow return to prominence. I remember when I was but a wee lad in the islands, in the days of the waiving gallery, it was Eastern that caused my enthusiasm for all that's plane to sore. It was nostalgic!

I always wondered what the "Eastern Airways" sign at Philadelphia Airport was, so now I know! Thank you!

When the cargo door didn't open, it explains why in your Loo Review you said there were several maintenance engineers on board... must be cheaper to fly them down and get the door open then to fix it properly!

A sunday ain't complete without Lord Noel's video. Thank you so much for taking us along another adventure. Keep'em coming Lord

I'm glad you brought back the bits where you give us the airplane's history in each video.

Eastern airlines was what helped Airbus become the biggest planemaker with boeing. The A300 wasnt selling anything, but airbus made a deal with eastern, which got the A300 to br popular and airbus to grow

I just came across your channel and really enjoy it - keep up the great work. I probably watched 6 of your vids today. BTW - I think one of the most famous 767's was the Gimli Glider - Google it. Not sure if it was a 200 but likely was because it was used in 1983. Fast forward from 1983 to around year 2000, it was all fixed up and I was on it flying from Canada to Europe, probably to Heathrow. A real survivor!

I remember doing a flight from HNLto SFO in October 1985. Was on a United Airlines 747 and there were on 6 passengers on it! More cabin crew than passengers.

Hi Noel and Rachel, Wow! Thanks for sharing this neat video on the "new" Eastern Airlines. I'm 63 and took my very first commercial flight on the old Eastern Airlines in August of 1968, flying from STL to my hometown of EVV. We flew on a then, new DC 9-14 that continued on to SDF. Eastern served EVV for many years. In fact I can't count the number of times I flew them. We had DC 9-14s, DC 9-30s, Boeing 727 100s and 200s. They were headquartered in MIA, with ATL as their main hub. I was fortunate to take advantage of their unlimited mileage fare back in May of 1980, still flying through the "old" ATL airport while they were constructing Hartsfield Jackson midfield terminals. I flew to SDF, ATL, MIA, TPA, SRQ, SFO on the A300, DCA, DFW, STL, SEA all for around $300.00 rt, I still have the ticket coupon receipts today. Interestingly on this trip, we experienced the Cuban refugee riots in MIA, the horrible collision and collapse of the Skyway Bridge between St. Pete and Bradenton, FL., and Mt. St. Helens exploding while departing SEA. One of the shortest flights I ever took was on Eastern, believe it or not, from TPA over to SRQ on a DC-9 30, a mere up and down of about 10 mins. Yes, it did exist...get an old May, 1980 EA timetable and you'll see it. It was a trip to remember for sure! I eventually worked for a travel agency that used Eastern Airlines SODA (System One Direct Access) reservaton computers and trained at the old Eastern training facility adjacent to MIA. I remember staying at the Sheraton River House and watching the planes of many countries take off and land back in the golden days of plane spotting. Eastern Airlines will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks again for sharing this gem of a flight. Happy travels and blue skies always, Duane

My Mom was an Eastern Airlines flight attendant based out of MIA from 1969 until the mid-80's, back in Eastern's heyday!

Fantastic video Noel! I miss the old volume and station controls on the arm rest. I really wish they would have shown a movie!

Took my first ever flight overseas from Christchurch NZ to Brisbane Australia return back in 2001 on a Qantas 767-200ER loved the economy class layout of 2-3-2. Took another flight on Air NZ from Auckland to Honolulu in 2013 on an Air New Zealand 767-300ER too. Such a nostalgic aircraft. Will have to fly on one again soon before they’re all retired for good!

You 2 are brave people. There is NO WAY, and I mean ZERO, that I would have flown on that airline. The rust on the armrest, the lavatory door, etc, no way. If it looks like that inside, what do the engines look like? I would have gotten off and taken the hit $wise.

I was on the last commercial flight of a Dan Air Comet IVB, Ive still got the gift packs from about 1977, but I may be wrong on the date.

Thanks for this Noel! Definitely cool to see the old birds and how they're still holding up. Not too many 767-200's in the air, for sure. A few cargo companies...and rapper Drake still has his 200 called 'Air Drake'.