Wings West was founded by Mark Morro and William Hirsch and began service in 1979 as a commuter air carrier flying Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft to destinations in California.

In 1981, Wings West was operating service linking Mammoth Lakes and Bishop, California with Oakland, Sacramento and Santa Monica.

That same year, the airline was continuing to support the American Airlines hub located at San Jose International Airport in northern California with nonstop feeder service between SJC and Chico, Concord, Eureka/Arcata, Fresno, Lake Tahoe, Modesto, Monterey, Palm Springs, Redding, Sacramento, San Francisco (SFO), San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Rosa and Stockton in California with these flights being operated by Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner and new Saab 340B commuter propjets.

Wings West served the following destinations during its existence as an independent commuter airline and later as an American Eagle air carrier on behalf of American Airlines with not all of these destinations being served at the same time: Wings West operated the following turboprop aircraft in the livery of American Eagle: Wings West also operated Cessna 402 twin prop aircraft and Swearingen Metro II turboprop aircraft as an independent air carrier.

As an American Eagle carrier, the airline had ordered the British Aerospace BAe ATP; however, this large turboprop aircraft was not delivered to nor operated by Wings West.