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Research dossier · General Reference

Florida Airlines

former US regional airline, 1960–1982

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 3, 2026
Entity authorityQ5461180 ↗
Source-derived summary

Florida Airlines was a commuter airline based in Florida that operated from 1960 to 1982. It is said to have had the largest Douglas DC3 fleet in the world in 1976. Airline deregulation eventually resulted in the demise of the airline. The company slogan was The Florida Connection.

Fleet

During the 1960s, Florida Airlines operated a fleet of aircraft described in the below table.

Florida Airlines also operated Martin 4-0-4 propliner aircraft during its existence.

History

Florida Airlines was incorporated on February 8, 1960, as Florida Air Taxi, Inc. in Tampa, Florida with William Taylor as owner. Taylor had purchased the company in the early 1950s from L. A. Stevens. The name was changed to Florida Airlines, Inc.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Florida Airlines” as former US regional airline, 1960–1982. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1960, 1982, 1976—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1960-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Florida, Airlines and former can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as former US regional airline, 1960–1982. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5461180. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1960, 1982 and 1976.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Florida Airlines”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Florida Airlines primary sources, Florida Airlines archive and Florida research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Florida Airlines”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Florida Airlines” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.