Beginning in 1930, Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) operated the "Lindbergh Line," the quickest route from coast to coast. TAT would later become Transcontinental and Western Air, or TWA.

Prior to its public launch, author Gore Vidal helped publicize one of the first cross-country flights. He was just four years old, and of the flight he recalled two things: "the lurid flames from the exhaust," and a rapid ascent over Los Angeles, "during which my eardrums burst."

At first, coast-to-coast routes were not direct. Planes departed from New York, stopping multiple times to refuel and at certain points deboarding to carry passengers from airport to airport by train. The route took 36 hours.

The airline introduced the DC-1 in 1934, a newer and faster aircraft. Jack Frye, a pilot and the future president of TWA , used this model to fly from California to New Jersey at a record time of 13 hours and 4 minutes.

The "Sky Sleeper Service," a cross-country red-eye, was introduced in 1937. Their berths were modeled after sleeper cars in luxury trains, equipped with privacy curtains, reading lamps, and cigar lighters.

Howards Hughes, aviator and businessman, acquired a majority of the shares of TWA in 1939. He ushered the airline the age of commercial international flights. The company kept its acronym but renamed itself Trans World Airlines, reflecting its new reach.