TWA - the Gentleman's Airline - World Route Map

TWA was formed in 1930, when Transcontinental Air Transport merged with Western Air Express. By 1939 the new airline was owned by the legendary Howard Hughes, under whose stewardship it gained a reputation as the gentleman’s airline. The Royal Ambassador Service gave first-class guests table cloths, caviar and Chateaubriand; they could even place phone calls home; James Bond flew TWA in ‘Diamonds Are Forever’.

The world map prominently features two of TWA’s Lockheed Constellations, and by 1946, the airline was making its first international flights, first to Europe, then Cairo, Bombay and Manila. Hughes sold TWA in 1966 for $566 million.