First Transcontinental Air Service to Texas Panhandle, Amarillo Municipal Airport
Amarillo, Potter County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Regular air service to Amarillo was inaugurated May 29, 1929, at Old Municipal Airport, 4 miles west of here. It was initiated by Western Air Express, using a 12-passenger Fokker trimotor plane flying round trip from Los Angeles to Amarillo. This was the first segment of transcontinental air service, a tribute to the city and leaders who had worked to build the airport and secure air service. Transcontinental air transport launched on July 7,1929, the first continuous, regularly-scheduled air passenger and mail service from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Its route had been surveyed by Charles Lindbergh soon after his 1927 world-record solo flight from New York to Paris. He and his wife and other celebrities were honored guests of Amarillo on that first transcontinental commercial flight. Reorganizations of companies originally flying commercial schedules to Amarillo resulted in the formation of Trans-World Airlines (TWA), now holding the record for longest service to this area. English Field, opened by Harold English in 1929, began handling commercial air traffic in 1930. In 1952 it was renamed Amarillo Air Terminal, and now handles the flights of six major airlines. (1966)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On May 29, 1929, Western Air Express began regular service to Amarillo with a twelve-passenger Fokker trimotor flying from Los Angeles—the first leg of a route that would soon span the continent. Weeks later, transcontinental air service launched along a path surveyed by Charles Lindbergh after his famous 1927 solo flight to Paris, and Lindbergh and his wife were honored guests on the first coast-to-coast flight through Amarillo. The airlines that grew from these early carriers eventually became TWA.
Why it matters
Amarillo's place on the first transcontinental air route marks the moment commercial aviation began knitting the country together from coast to coast.
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Related people
- · Charles Lindbergh
- · Harold English
Related events
- · First transcontinental air service
Themes & tags
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