The L-1011 TriStar was Lockheed’s final foray into the commercial market. The type served Trans World Airlines for a quarter of a century, as Barry Lloyd recounts.
The rst orders for the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar were received M arch 29, 1968. Eastern Airlines was designated the launch custom er with a com m itm ent for 50 TriStars. W hile the sam e day Trans W orld Airlines (TW A) signed for 44 exam ples and a further 50 were for the British rm Air Holdings: a nancial vehicle designed to prom ote overseas sales. It was planned that half of TW A’s allocation would be delivered throughout 1972, with the rem aining 22 arriving by the end of 1974.
The aircraft were initially intended for use on short- and m edium -haul dom estic services, TW A having identi ed routes from Chicago which included to Los Angeles and San Francisco. An additional operating base at St Louis, M issouri was chosen. The rst L-1011 for the airline, N1031L, was never handed over due to a higher than estim ated structural weight, and so deliveries began with N31001 on M ay 9, 1972. The type had achieved its Federal Aviation Adm inistration certi cation a m onth earlier. The rst TW A com m ercial service was own between St Louis and Los Angeles on June 25.
