The DFASS Group and Eastern Air Lines announced today that they have agreed on a long term multi-faceted partnership.
Eastern, an iconic name in aviation history is being re-launched and will provide charter operations later this year using its fleet of 737-800s, with initial operations slated for the Bahamas, Jamaica and Mexico.
DFASS and Eastern will be launching a full service in-flight duty free concession coupled with the state of the art DFASS Solutions to manage Eastern’s Buy on Board (BOB) program as well as its new Duty Free Collection platform.
DFASS Group Chairman and CEO Benny Klepach said: “DFASS is extremely pleased with this new partnership with Eastern Air Lines. This is a great opportunity to build our partnership from Eastern’s inception and to further develop and expand our portfolio together. I have known [Eastern Air Lines President and CEO] Ed Wegel for many years and there is no doubt that under his leadership Eastern Air Lines will be a big success.”
Eastern Air Lines President and CEO Ed Wegel said: “We are very excited to be launching several customer service programs that will allow Eastern to maximize the revenue we can generate coupled with onboard service options that provide our customers with numerous options pre-flight, inflight and post flight. DFASS is best in breed for these types of programs and we are very pleased to be working with Benny Klepach and his team of professionals at the DFASS Group.”
About Eastern Air Lines
Eastern Air Lines was one of the “Big Four” airlines (along with United, Delta and American) that dominated the passenger airline business in the United States for nearly 50 years. It started flying officially as Eastern from 1930 (after its predecessor company was founded in 1927) and operated until 1991, when it ceased operations during the first Gulf War.
In late 2011, a professional group of airline managers acquired the intellectual property of Eastern Air Lines to develop a new business and financing plan to re-launch the airline, and formed Eastern Air Lines Group, Inc.
The team put together a plan to re-launch Eastern to be based at Miami International Airport (“MIA”). It quickly established working relationships with strategic partners including the Miami Airport Authority, Amadeus and Boeing.
The team developed a multi-level business and financing plan that was successfully used to raise the capital required for Eastern to be certified under FAA Regulation Part 121 and assemble a fleet of 737–Next Generation aircraft, and has signed an initial order with Boeing for new 737-800 aircraft with deliveries commencing in April 2017.
Eastern has commenced its filings with the DOT and is currently preparing its formal submissions for the FAA.
