In 1926, the section of the National Old Trails Highway through downtown Winslow on Second Street became part of US Route 66, linking small towns to bigger cities and helping expand local businesses as affordable automobiles brought more travelers to motor courts, campgrounds, service stations, diners, curio shops, and roadside attractions. After gasoline and rubber rationing ended following World War II, auto-tourism increased further, and during the 1950s several thousand cars a day passed through downtown Winslow. Winslow's airport also became important in modern transportation. In 1929, Charles A. Lindbergh, serving as technical chairman of Transcontinental Air Transport, selected Winslow as one of twelve refueling stops for the nation's first coast-to-coast passenger air service because of its terrain, weather patterns, and access to the Santa Fe line. On the 48-hour trip between New York and Los Angeles, passengers flew by day and traveled by train at night. South of town, the airport included a terminal, hangar, parking apron, and three long asphalt runways, and Transcontinental Air Transport used Ford Tri-Motor planes carrying ten passengers and small kitchens for in-flight meals. In 1930, Transcontinental Air Transport merged with Western Air Express to form Transcontinental and Western Air. Joseph Kasulaitis, who worked at the airport from 1929 to 1948, recalled an era when flying was glamorous and brought famous aviators and Hollywood stars through Winslow. After the United States entered World War II in 1941, the military converted the airport into a refueling and repair stop, with more than 350 military flights passing through daily. Commercial flights resumed after the war, and the airline became Trans World Airways in 1950, but service to Winslow Municipal Airport ended in 1953. Frontier Airlines then provided regional flights from 1950 until 1974, when it discontinued service because of high costs and too few passengers.