Published on April 30, 2026
If you know the history of aviation in Florida, you know that without Pan Am and Eastern Air Lines, the Florida of today would look very different.
When those two commercial airline companies began building their empires of flight in South Florida 100 years ago, there was no way for the rest of the world to get to Florida other than by boat.
Eastern and Pan Am may no longer exist, but they changed transportation in a big way when they chose to base their headquarters in Miami. That change reverberates today in the form of one of the world’s largest aviation and MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) sectors.
IBISWorld estimates the size of Florida’s MRO industry at $4.9 billion. More than $2.75 billion of that activity is clustered in Broward County around greater Fort Lauderdale. In recent months, several aviation companies solidified their presence in Broward by announcing capital investments and physical plant expansions.
by Ron Starner
Read More: Online Insider