L-1049 Constellation Eastern AirlinesEastern Airlines Constellation airplane model. The first Constellation was certified for civil operations on December 11, 1945, the aircraft entering service first with Pan Am and TWA, the latter inaugurating a regular US Paris service on February 6, 1946. By the end of 1949 the demand for air travel was increasing and operators were then looking for airplanes of greater capacity. This brought development of the L 1049 Super Constellation, with the