Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) was an airline founded in 1928 by

Clement Melville Keys Clement Melville Keys (April 7, 1876 – January 12, 1952) was a financier who was involved in the establishment of many aviation companies including Curtiss-Wright, China National Aviation Corporation, North American Aviation and TWA. He has ...

that merged in 1930 with

Western Air Express Western Airlines was a major airline in the United States based in California, operating in the Western United States including Alaska and Hawaii, and western Canada, as well as to New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., and Miami and to Mexi ...

to form what became

TWA The Twa, often referred to as Batwa or Mutwa (singular), are indigenous hunter-gatherer peoples of the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa, recognized as some of the earliest inhabitants of the area. Historically and academically, the term � ...

. Keys enlisted the help of

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

to design a transcontinental network to get government airmail contracts. Lindbergh established numerous airports across the country in this effort. EL-2002-00560

History

On July 7, 1929, transcontinental trips began. It initially offered a 48-hour coast to coast trip with the passengers taking flights during the day and trains by night. The first leg on the

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

departed from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

at 6:05pm Eastern time and travelled overnight to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. There, passengers boarded a

Ford Trimotor The Ford Trimotor (also called the "Tri-Motor", and nicknamed the "Tin Goose") is an American Trimotor, three-engined transport plane, transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, afte ...

aircraft at what is now

John Glenn Columbus International Airport John Glenn Columbus International Airport is an international airport located east of downtown Columbus, Ohio. Formerly known as Port Columbus International Airport, it is managed by the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, which also overs ...

, and flew to

Waynoka, Oklahoma Waynoka is a city in Woods County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located on U.S. Highway 281 and State Highway 14, seventy miles west of Enid. The population, which peaked at 2,018 in 1950, was 708 at the time of the 2020 Census. History ...

, an 11-hour flight that required four brief stops. At Waynoka, passengers boarded a

Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Railroad classes, Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight tra ...

train for a second overnight rail trip to

Clovis, New Mexico Clovis is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, New Mexico. The population was 38,567 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Clovis is located in the New Mexico portion of the Llano Estacado, in the eastern part of the state. A ...

. There, they took a second Ford Trimotor flight to Los Angeles, with three stops along the way, eventually arriving at 5:52pm Pacific time at the

Grand Central Airport Grand Central Airport is a privately owned and licensed airport which is open to public air traffic. It is located in Midrand, halfway between Johannesburg and Pretoria in South Africa. Prior permission to land at Grand Central is not required ...

in Glendale. The return journey departed from Los Angeles at 8:45am and arrived at Now York at 9:50am of the third day. The one-way fare from New York to Los Angeles was $352 . The

service was one of the first to offer meals en route, provided by the

Fred Harvey Company The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses alongside railroads in the Western United States. It was founded in 1876 by Fred Harvey (entrepreneur), Fred Harve ...

.; Fred Harvey also provided meals on the ground at several stops. The service was also one of the first to be geared toward passengers–most airlines at the time focused on transporting air mail. Cynics were to deride the TAT abbreviation as "Take A Train". And in its first eighteen months of operation, the company lost $2.7 million . In November 1929 TAT bought

Maddux Air Lines Maddux Air Lines was an airline based in Southern California that operated Ford Tri-motors in California, Arizona, and Mexico in the late 1920s. Founding In 1927 Jack L. Maddux, an owner of a Los Angeles Ford and Lincoln car dealership, ...

. The company was tendering to the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...

for the contract for the New York to Los Angeles air mail route. However, before granting the contract

Walter Folger Brown Walter Folger Brown (May 31, 1869January 26, 1961) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the Postmaster General of the United States from March 5, 1929, to March 4, 1933, under Herbert Hoover's administration. Biography Early & pe ...

, the US

postmaster general A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. History The practice of having a government official ...

forced TAT to merge with

to form Transcontinental & Western Air (T&WA). In October 1930, the new airline began an all-air, coast to coast passenger service that took 36 hours, with an overnight stop at

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

Karash, Montgomery (2001), p.14 Western became an independent company once again in 1934. However, Transcontinental opted to retain the T&WA name, and eventually evolved into

Trans World Airlines Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles ...

or TWA.

Accidents and incidents

On September 3, 1929, ''NC9649'', named ''City of San Francisco'', crashed into the forested slope of Mount Taylor near

Grants, New Mexico Grants is a city in Cibola County, New Mexico, United States. It is located about west of Albuquerque. The population was 9,163 at the 2020 Census. It is the county seat of Cibola County. Grants is located along the Trails of the Ancients B ...

. The crash took place during a thunderstorm; the three crew and five passengers on board died. The September crash was the first of three serious accidents for TAT over the next five months.

Legacy

Two of the Ford Tri-Motors that flew the transcontinental route with TAT, are preserved in flying condition: * ''N9645'', serial number 8. Built in 1928 it was registered as ''NC9645'' and named ''City of Wichita'' in TAT service. The aircraft is currently owned by:

Liberty Aviation Museum The Liberty Aviation Museum is located in Port Clinton, Ohio, United States, adjacent to the Erie–Ottawa International Airport. History The Liberty Aviation Museum owns a 1928 Ford 5-AT Tri-motor, currently operating with the Experimental Air ...

. It is painted in TAT livery with the name ''City of Port Clinton'' and is based at the Erie-Ottawa International Airport in

Port Clinton, Ohio Port Clinton is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, Ohio, United States, located at the mouth of the Portage River on Lake Erie. The population was 6,025 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Port Clinton micropolita ...

. Since 1964, it has been registered as ''N9645''. * ''N9651'', serial number 34. Built in 1929 and named ''City of Philadelphia'', it is currently owned by

Kermit Weeks Kermit Weeks (born July 14, 1953 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American aviation enthusiast, Aviator, pilot, and aircraft collector. He has competed in aerobatics, designed aircraft, and promoted aviation and vintage aircraft restoration. ...

. The aircraft is based at

Fantasy of Flight Fantasy of Flight is an aviation museum in Polk City, Florida. It opened in November 1995, to house Kermit Weeks' collection of aircraft that, until Hurricane Andrew damaged many in 1992, were housed at the Weeks Air Museum in Kendall-Tamiami E ...

Polk City, Florida Polk City is a city in Polk County, Florida, Polk County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Lakeland, Florida, Lakeland–Winter Haven, Florida, Winter Haven Lakeland-Winter Haven, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, metropolitan s ...

. When in service with TAT, the aircraft flew the Clovis to Los Angeles leg of the journey. The Western New Mexico Aviation Heritage Museum in Grants, New Mexico, has a restored light and arrow which was used to direct pilots along the route. The

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

district office in Grants stores a collection of items of wreckage recovered from the crash site of ''NC9649'', ''City of San Francisco''. A USFS-sponsored, 2009 archaeological survey of the site found many other fragments of the aircraft.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * (privately published)

External links

Articles

American Heritage article
by Jay Berman.

Los Angeles Downtown News The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' is a free weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, California, serving the Downtown Los Angeles area. The newspaper focuses on general news with an emphasis on real estate and business along with coverage of the arts s ...

April 22, 2013
Biography of Clement Melville Keys

Graphics

Atchison, Topeka, and Santa promotional brochure for Transcontinental Air Transport.
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20080704172747/http://earthfriendarts.tripod.com/coastprint.html Poster for the train-plane* ttp://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/tat.htm Timetables {{Authority control Trans World Airlines Charles Lindbergh Defunct airlines of the United States Kansas City metropolitan area Airlines established in 1928 Airlines disestablished in 1930 American companies established in 1928 1928 establishments in the United States