On August 1, 1987 TWA inaugurated service from New York to West Berlin. The inaugural flight both to and from West Berlin stopped at Brussels. Because of altitude restrictions on service to West Berlin, the stop in Brussels also involved a change in equipment. A Lockheed L-1011 was used on the New York to Brussels round trip, while a Boeing 727 was used on the service between Brussels and West Berlin.

The Deutsche Bundespost provided a special cancellation for the collector covers from West Berlin. The cancel shows a Lockheed L-1011 even though a Boeing 727 was used for the Berlin-Brussels segment of the inaugural flight. A private cachet was also applied to some covers by the Trans World Philair Club. Some covers flown to New York were not backstamped at the time of the flight.

This cover was carried on the inaugural TWA flight from West Berlin, Germany to Brussels, Belgium (where it was backstamped) and is listed in The American Air Mail Catalogue as TW-F122a.

In January 2001, Trans World Airlines filed for a third and final bankruptcy and was acquired by American Airlines. American Airlines laid off many former TWA employees in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. TWA continued to exist as an LLC under American Airlines until July 1, 2003 at which time all operations were integrated into American Airlines.