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19 Route map from June 15 , 1973 timetable . // DAVID H . STRINGER COLLECTION
20 Convair 440 N9303 was photographed at Fort Lauderdale in 1972 . // PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION
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happened in Eastern ’ s takeover of Mackey . By 1970 , Eastern was only interested in continuing to serve Nassau and Freeport in the Bahamas .
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21 January 1 , 1977 system timetable . In addition to the Bahamas , the company now served Turks and Caicos , and Cap Haitien in Haiti . // DAVID H . STRINGER COLLECTION
22 A Mackey International postcard from the early 1970s . Fort Lauderdale was still the backdrop for company photos . // DAVID H . STRINGER COLLECTION
23 Convair 440 N441JM at Fort Lauderdale . // PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION
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Bimini , Andros Town , and Marsh Harbour . Despite objections from five other airlines — Delta , National , Northeast , Northwest , and Pan American — the CAB agreed to the merger and President Lyndon Johnson gave his approval on November 19 , 1966 .
Mackey Airlines officially lost its identity in early 1967 , as Eastern took over the little airline ’ s authority to serve the Bahamas . Colonel Mackey did well
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financially as a result of the sale of his airline to ‘ The Wings of Man ’.
MACKEY II
As is the case with almost every takeover of a small airline by a larger one , the surviving carrier destroys the original route system of the smaller airline , shedding what it doesn ’ t deem worthwhile and keeping only the most profitable services . This is exactly what
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Colonel Mackey had maintained a fixed base operation ( FBO ) at Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood International Airport ( FLL ) while Mackey Airlines was in business , and he was not about to abandon the field of aviation just because he had sold his airline .
Mackey formed an air taxi operation after sale of the airline and , in 1968 , began operating small aircraft between Fort Lauderdale and the Bahamas under the banner of Mackey International Air Commuter .
By 1970 , Eastern was desperate for Colonel Mackey to take over the certificated points in the Bahamas that the big
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