Just 11 years after a fledgling TWU was founded in 1934 to represent transit workers in New York City, the union made a bold move into another crucial area of the nation's transportation systems -- the rapidly growing airline industry.

In April 1945, TWU chartered a new Local in Miami, FL to represent ground service employees at the nation's premier carrier of the day -- Pan American World Airways. Shortly thereafter, the union chartered similar Locals in New York and San Francisco and several other cities. The union signed a historic first contract with Pan Am in September 1945. 

Within a year after the breakthrough at Pan Am, TWU moved rapidly to organize ground employees at American Airlines, which at that time was overshadowed by the size and wealth of Pan Am. In the 50 years since, TWU's Air Transport Division has experienced scores of great victories, as well as several bitter losses, most notably the shutdowns of Eastern Airlines and Pan Am less than a year apart in 1991.

Today, TWU represents nearly 100,000 workers in the nation's transportation industries, including 50,000 workers in the airline industry in virtually all Class and Crafts. TWU today maintains contracts for its members working at the following airlines: American, TWA Northwest, Continental, Simmons, United, Southwest, Flagship, Executive Air, Wings West, UFS Inc., AMR Services, Dynair, Ogden Allied, Johnson Controls, Aloha, Hawaiian, Horizon and Alaska Air.