I think Walter O’Malley should thank Douglas and Lockheed for making the Los Angeles Dodgers possible. The reason is simple: the DC-6 and Lockheed Constellation allowed non-stop flights from the US East Coast to US West Coast, which made it possible for MLB teams to locate on the US West Coast. People forget that the reason why we didn’t see MLB teams west of St. Louis, MO until the late 1950’s was due to the limitations of train travel.
You’re right, air travel is what brought MLB to the west. I flew to the east coast in 56 on a TWA Super Constellation, it was a great flight except when we landed at La Guardia in a storm, we were bouncing around something terrible. lol