TRANSCONTINENTAL AIR TRANSPORT
The Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) was formed on 16 May, 1928, by a
conglomerate of high-powered business interests under the leadership of Clement M. Keys, a
Canadian-born businessman who had begun his career working for The Wall Street Journal.
Keys decided to offer a coast-to-coast service for travelers that would combine
both air and rail travel. Passengers taking TAT would take a two-day journey across
the country, riding Pullman railway sleepers at night and flying Ford Trimotors during the
day. The air portion of the trip was noisy and uncomfortable but the New York-Los
Angeles route cut the trip from the normal three days to just 48 hours! At the time it was founded, TAT was the only carrier devoted
specifically to the transport of passengers. Keys enlisted the help of famous aviator Charles Lindbergh to draw
attention to his plan and to serve as the technical advisor.
Crowds greet the arrival of the first TAT trimotor at Port Columbus, Ohio
Initially the new air service would combine air and rail transit until the route could be lit for night air travel. Lindbergh spent nearly a year laying out the route to be followed. He initially chose ten cities spaced out between the coasts. The plan was to have passengers board a train at New York's Penn Station for an overnight trip across the Alleghenies, arriving in Columbus, Ohio, the next morning. There the travelers would walk from the train station across the street to a new air terminal where they would board a Ford Trimotor for the first air leg of the journey. After a number of stops in the mid-continent, the plane would complete its day's journey in Waynoka, Oklahoma. In Waynoka, the ritual was reversed. Passengers were shuttled to the Santa Fe railroad terminal (Pennsylvania Railway's service did not extend beyond the Mississippi) for a night's journey across the plains and desert to Clovis, New Mexico. From Clovis, another Trimotor carried the passengers by day across the Grand Canyon and on into Los Angeles.
A passenger's diary of a flight on the TAT is available HERE.
Ford Trimotor
Such was the enthusiasm for the new service that all along the proposed route, towns competed for the honor of hosting a landing strip. The Dodge City Daily in February, 1929, conceded defeat and congratulated Waynoka, Oklahoma, as the chosen transfer point for the Santa Fe railroad.
Other improvements set in place by the farseeing Lindbergh included: a national meteorological system which allowed updated weather information to be passed along to pilots for each leg of the journey; radio communication between pilots and the ground (provided by RCA); and teletype service between each of the stations (provided by AT&T).
Eventually, TAT acquired Maddux Airlines (1929) and changed its name to TAT-Maddux Air Lines. This new airline merged with Western Air Express in 1930, changing its name yet again to Transcontinental and Western Air.
Coast to Coast air-rail service lasted barely 18 months before being supplanted by round-the-clock air flights. Within four years new aircraft, including the Boeing 247, and the Douglas DC-2 and DC-3, became available which far surpassed the Trimotor in speed, load carrying capacity, and comfort. But even as equipment improved the basic concepts put in place by Lindbergh and his partners remained as the standard for air travel that we still enjoy today.
Timetables and Promotional Materials
Dated: July 7, 1929
Dated: September 11, 1929
Two Luggage Labels
MISCELLANIA
Initial Stock Option Sheet for TAT
Commemorative First Day Cover of Inauguration of Service, 27 July, 1929
