re: 30 years ago today Eastern Airlines goes to the airline graveyard.

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Why did Panam end up shutting down, not really familiar with their history.

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They started losing money in the mid 80s and relied heavily on international routes, many of which were facing declining demand due to economic factors and terrorism. Their airplanes were old and competition was running the show on domestic flying. Fuel prices went up and then the Gulf War happened. They dried up.

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Don't forget they didn't have a domestic feeder network at all, so they overpaid for National. National was a very weak sister to mainliners like AA and UAL. It also led to a very wide variety of planes in the fleet.

Finally, the 767 was a revolutionary idea in Transatlantic. Only two engines and smaller than a 747, DC10, etc.. and made transatlantic travel viable from places like Cincinnati rather than just JFK and Dulles.