Trump Shuttle

Trump Shuttle, Inc., doing business as Trump Airlines, was an airline owned by Donald Trump from 1989 to 1992. The landing rights and some of the physical assets necessary to operate the shuttle flights were originally part of Eastern Air Lines and known as the Eastern Air Lines Shuttle. It operated hourly flights on Boeing 727 aircraft from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., then known as Washington National Airport at the time Trump Shuttle operated. Trump Airlines also had regularly scheduled flights between LaGuardia and Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Florida.

History

As the financial outlook for Eastern Air Lines became more pessimistic in the late 1980s, the carrier began to sell its routes and aircraft. It organized its profitable Northeastern air shuttle operation into a separate company headed by Bruce Nobles with the intent of selling it to raise cash. On October 5, 1988, amidst a prolonged threatened mechanics' strike action, Donald Trump arranged to purchase the shuttle. In June 1989 the deal was completed, financed through a $380 million loan from a syndicate of 22 banks. The new airline began service as Trump Shuttle on June 23. Its IATA designator code, TB, has since been assigned to Jetairfly.