Nearly 24 years after the original Eastern shut down on Jan. 18, 1991, the new Eastern Air Lines welcomed home its first new aircraft on Dec. 19. Ex-Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 “The Spirit of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker,” N276EA, arrived from Shannon, Ireland (SNN), via Portsmouth, New Hampshire (PSN), into the airline’s base at Miami International Airport at 3:13 p.m. local time on Runway 8R to a water-cannon salute. The fanfare reached far beyond that of a traditional airline launch, particularly in Miami. Miami was the original Eastern’s headquarters, and the carrier was the city’s largest employer from the mid-1970s until...