Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) was an airline founded in 1928 by
Clement Melville Keys that merged in 1930 with
Western Air Express to form what became
TWA. 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.
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, and flew to
Waynoka, Oklahoma, 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 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
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 ...
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. 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, 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
Western Air Express 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. 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 ...
in
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.
See also
*
List of defunct airlines of the United States
The following is a list of defunct airlines of the United States. However, some of these airlines have ceased operations completely, changed identities and/or FAA certificates and are still operating under a different name (e.g. America West Ai ...
References
;Citations
;Bibliography
*
* (privately published)
External links
Articles
American Heritage articleby 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