(USA) TWA @·AIRCRAFTUBE

  • Douglas DC-2 Douglas DC-2
    Douglas DC-2
  • Boeing 727-100 Boeing 727-100
    Boeing 727-100
  • Lockheed 049-46 Lockheed 049-46
    Lockheed 049-46
  • Lockheed L-1011 Lockheed L-1011
    Lockheed L-1011
  • Lockheed L749A Lockheed L749A
    Lockheed L749A
  • Howard Hughes Howard Hughes
    Howard Hughes
  • Martin 404 - Mills Field Martin 404 - Mills Field
    Martin 404 - Mills Field
  • Boeing 707-331B Boeing 707-331B
    Boeing 707-331B
  • Convair CV-880 Convair CV-880
    Convair CV-880
  • DC-9-32 DC-9-32
    DC-9-32
  • DC-3 - Columbus, Ohio - 1941 DC-3 - Columbus, Ohio - 1941
    DC-3 - Columbus, Ohio - 1941
  • Douglas DC-1 Douglas DC-1
    Douglas DC-1
  • Fairchild C-82 Packet Fairchild C-82 Packet
    Fairchild C-82 Packet
  • Boeing 747-282B Boeing 747-282B
    Boeing 747-282B
  • Lockheed L-1649 Constellation Lockheed L-1649 Constellation
    Lockheed L-1649 Constellation
  • Convair CV-880 Convair CV-880
    Convair CV-880
  • McDonnell Douglas MD-83 McDonnell Douglas MD-83
    McDonnell Douglas MD-83
  • Boeing 707-331B Boeing 707-331B
    Boeing 707-331B
  • Convair CV-880 Convair CV-880
    Convair CV-880
  • Boeing B-17G Boeing B-17G
    Boeing B-17G
  • Lockheed L-1649A Starliner Lockheed L-1649A Starliner
    Lockheed L-1649A Starliner
  • Boeing 757-200 Boeing 757-200
    Boeing 757-200
  • DC-9-14 DC-9-14
    DC-9-14
  • Lockheed 049-46 - San Francisco - 1948 Lockheed 049-46 - San Francisco - 1948
    Lockheed 049-46 - San Francisco - 1948
  • Boeing 767-231 Boeing 767-231
    Boeing 767-231
  • Fairchild C-82A Packet Fairchild C-82A Packet
    Fairchild C-82A Packet
  • Boeing 747SP-31 Boeing 747SP-31
    Boeing 747SP-31
  • B727-231-Adv B727-231-Adv
    B727-231-Adv
  • Boeing 717-231 Boeing 717-231
    Boeing 717-231
  • Boeing 307 Stratoliner Boeing 307 Stratoliner
    Boeing 307 Stratoliner
  • Douglas DC-3 - 1940 Douglas DC-3 - 1940
    Douglas DC-3 - 1940

Trans World Airlines

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major American airline from 1925 until 2001. It was originally formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a transcontinental route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis and Kansas City. Along with American, United, and Eastern, it was one of the "Big Four" domestic airlines in the United States formed by the Spoils Conference of 1930.

Howard Hughes acquired control of TWA in 1939, and after World War II led the expansion of the airline to serve Europe, the Middle East and Asia, making TWA a second unofficial flag carrier of the United States after Pan Am. Hughes gave up control in the 1960s, and the new management of TWA acquired Hilton International and Century 21 in an attempt to diversify the company's business. As the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 led to a wave of airline failures, start-ups and takeovers in the United States, TWA was spun off from its holding company in 1984. Carl Icahn acquired control of TWA and took the company private in a leveraged buyout in 1988. TWA became saddled with debt, sold its London routes, underwent Chapter 11 restructuring in 1992 and 1995, and was further stressed by the explosion of TWA Flight 800 in 1996. In 2001, TWA filed for a third and final bankruptcy and was acquired by American Airlines. American laid off many former TWA employees in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and closed its St. Louis hub in 2003.

TWA was headquartered at one time in Kansas City, Missouri and planned to make Kansas City International Airport its main domestic and international hub, but abandoned this plan in the 1970s. The airline later developed its largest hub at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, becoming the dominant carrier there by acquiring Ozark Airlines in 1986. Its main trans-Atlantic hub was the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, an architectural icon designed by Eero Saarinen and completed in 1962.

1930s

TWA's corporate history dates from the July 16, 1930, forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) and Western Air Express to form Transcontinental & Western Air (T&WA). The companies merged at the urging of Postmaster General Walter Folger Brown, who was looking for bigger airlines to give airmail contracts.

Both airlines brought high-profile aviation pioneers who would give the airline the panache of being called "The Airline Run by Flyers." The airlines would be known for several years as being on the cutting edge of aviation. Transcontinental, the bigger of the two, had the marquee expertise of Charles Lindbergh and was already offering a 48-hour combination of plane and train trip across the United States. Western, which was slightly older, having been founded in 1925, had the expertise of Jack Frye.

On October 25, 1930, the airline offered one of the first all-plane scheduled service from coast to coast: the Lindbergh Route. The route took 36 hours and initially called for overnights in Kansas City. In summer 1931, TWA moved its headquarters from New York to Kansas City, Missouri.

DC-2 and DC-3

In 1931, the airline nearly went out of business after TWA Flight 599, a Fokker F.10, shed a wing and crashed on March 31 near Bazaar, Kansas, killing all eight on board the plane, including University of Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne. Investigation revealed that the wing's wooden structure had deteriorated, leading it to fail. In the wake of the crash, the Fokker F.10 was temporarily grounded, and a more frequent and rigorous inspection and maintenance regime was put in place, making it more expensive to operate. The F.10's public image, and that of all wooden-structured aircraft, also suffered badly from the crash. TWA needed a replacement.

The dominant manufacturer of the day was Boeing, but his contract with United Air Lines did not allow him to sell his 247 to competing lines. Frye and other members of TWA approached several other manufacturers, including Donald Douglas, with specifications for a larger plane. On September 20, 1932, the contract was signed with Douglas and the DC-1 was delivered to TWA in December 1933, the one and only DC-1. This was followed by the delivery of 32 Douglas DC-2 aircraft that started operations in May 1934. Most were phased out by 1937 as the DC-3 started service, but several DC-2 would be operational through the early years of WWII. Throughout 1934 Tomlinson and Richter tested the DC-1, and Tomlinson's extensive testing in 1934 and 1935 led to higher-altitude "over-weather flying" and cabin pressurization.

On February 18, 1934, the top-scoring American World War I ace Eddie Rickenbacker and a TWA team including Frye, "Tommy" Tomlinson, Larry Fritz, Paul E. Richter, Si Morehouse, Harlan Hull, John Collings, and Andy Andrews flew the DC-1 from Burbank, California to Newark, New Jersey in a record-breaking 13 hours and 4 minutes.

Lehman Brothers/Hertz ownership: T&WA, Inc.

In 1934, following charges of favoritism in the contracts, the Air Mail scandal erupted, leading to the Air Mail Act of 1934, which dissolved the forced Transcontinental and Western merger and ordered the United States Army Air Service to deliver the mail. The T&WA name, however, would stick with Transcontinental as TWA. With the company facing financial hardship, Lehman Brothers and John D. Hertz took over ownership of the company.

The Army fliers had a series of crashes, and it was decided to privatize the delivery with the provision that no former companies could bid on the contracts. T&WA added the suffix "Inc." to its name, thus qualifying it as a different company and got 60 percent of its old contracts back starting again in May 1934.

On May 18, 1934, the DC-2 production version of the DC-1 and forerunner of the DC-3 entered commercial service on TWA's Columbus–Pittsburgh–Newark route. On August 1 TWA started a three-stop transcontinental flight: leave Newark at 1600, arrive Glendale at 0700, fare $160 one way (approx $2,227 today). All transcontinental airline flights made at least three stops en route until 1946.

On December 27, 1934, Jack Frye became President, Paul E. Richter, Vice Pres., Walt Hamilton, V.P. Maintenance with managers Lawrence G. "Larry" Fritz, and Tommy Tomlinson, the leader in "High Altitude Research" for Over Weather Flying. The new owners installed directional "homing" and runway lights at its facilities.

In 1935 Tomlinson and Northrop Gamma (turbo-supercharged) began High Altitude research, and the last of 14 TWA Northrop Alphas were phased out. On November 16, 1936, Richter headed the airline's Boeing 307 talks; on January 29, 1937, TWA contracted with Boeing for five Boeing 307 Stratoliners, the first commercial plane with a pressurized cabin. The first TWA Stratoliner was delivered on May 6, 1940.

In 1938, Richter was elected Executive Vice President, Lawrence G. "Larry" Fritz became Vice Pres. of Operations, and Tomlinson Vice Pres. of Engineering. TWA subsequently received the San Francisco to Chicago route (via Los Angeles).

Howard Hughes

In 1938, Lehman and Hertz began selling their interest and General Motors began buying stock. Frye then approached another flying enthusiast, Howard Hughes, to buy stock. According to John Keats's biography of Hughes, he grumbled, "$15 million! That's a small fortune!" before he agreed and initially bought 25 percent of the airline.

On June 22, 1939, Hughes Tool Co. ordered 40 Lockheed Constellations. On July 8, 1940, TWA inaugurated Boeing 307 Stratoliner service; in summer 1941 a Stratoliner was scheduled to leave La Guardia at 2030 EST and arrive Burbank at 0838 PST after three stops.

1940s

World War II

Hughes gained a controlling interest in 1941 and eventually controlled 78 percent of TWA. The airline prospered during World War II, racking up 40 million miles in flights for the Army, as well as supplying the North Atlantic route to Prestwick, Scotland, and the South Atlantic route from Brazil to Liberia and points east.

Hughes pushed for the construction of the Lockheed Constellation commercial airliner, which would become synonymous with the TWA style of elegance and cutting-edge technology. On April 17, 1944, Hughes and Frye flew the Constellation (C-69 USAAF #43-10310) from Burbank, California, to Washington, D.C., in an unofficial record of 6 hours 58 minutes.

Post-war: The Trans World Airline

After breaking Pan American World Airways' legal designation as the United States' sole international carrier, TWA began trans-Atlantic service in 1946 using DC-4s and the elegant new Lockheed Constellation ("Connie"); soon its name was changed to The Trans World Airline. Flights reached Cairo in 1946, Bombay in January 1947, Ceylon in February 1953, and Manila in January 1958; two 1049Gs a week reached Manila 55–56 hours after leaving Idlewild. The route was cut back to Bangkok in a year or two and to Bombay in 1961. In 1966 it re-extended to Hong Kong via Bangkok, then in 1969 TWA opened the trans-Pacific link to complete its round the world network that lasted until 1975.

The airline assisted in the setting-up of Saudi Arabian Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines, and the newly established German national airline Lufthansa. Airlines from around the world sent their pilots to TWA for training.

Falling out between Hughes and Frye

Frye and Hughes had a falling out in 1946. Hughes' financial advisor Noah Dietrich said that Frye was ruining the company with overexpansion. TWA's stock market price plunged from $53 a share to $10 as the airline suffered a pilot's strike and a temporary grounding of its Constellation fleet. Hughes dictated to management a 50% cut across the board as a solution to the financial problems. In December 1946, Hughes loaded the TWA Board of Directors with men from the Hughes Tool Co. Frye resigned in February 1947, followed three months later by Richter. Thus ended the era of "The Airline Run by Flyers."

In the next two decades TWA suffered constant changes in management, with the exception of Ralph Damon. TWA survived partly due to the airline's legal maneuvering of the 1940s that eliminated a possible competitive threat from American Overseas Airlines, affiliated with American Airlines. C.R. Smith, President of American, unhappy with the AOA's financial results, sold AOA to Pan American in 1950; TWA and Pan Am were the only U.S. airlines scheduling passenger flights to Europe until National started in 1970.

1950s: Trans World Airlines

In 1950, the airline officially changed its name to Trans World Airlines. Between 1954 and 1958, it moved its executive offices from its landmark downtown Kansas City building to New York City. However, the servicing of the fleet continued to be handled in Kansas City, Kansas. Initially, servicing was at a former B-25 Mitchell bomber factory at Fairfax Airport. When the Great Flood of 1951 destroyed the facility, the city of Kansas City, Missouri built TWA a 5,000-acre (20 km²) airport on farmland 15 miles (24 km) north of downtown at what became Kansas City International Airport. At its peak, the airline was one of Kansas City's biggest employers with more than 20,000 employees. TWA also became well-regarded by Hollywood movie stars and executives and became known as the "Airline To The Stars."

In the 1950s, the TWA Moonliner was the tallest structure at Disneyland and depicted atomic-powered travel to come in 1986.

WA suffered from its late entry to the jet age and in 1956 Hughes placed an order for 63 Convair 880s at a cost of $400 million. The transaction ultimately resulted in Hughes losing control of the airline because outside creditors financing the deal did not want Hughes controlling both development and operation of aircraft.

In 1958, TWA became the first major airline to hire an African-American flight attendant, hiring Margaret Grant after another African-American woman, Dorothy Franklin of Astoria, Queens, New York, filed a lawsuit alleging "that she had been discriminated against 'because of poor complexion ... unattractive teeth' and legs that were 'not shapely.'" New York governor W. Averell Harriman praised her hiring, saying the action "would raise American prestige abroad."

1960s

In July 1940, TWA scheduled flights to 22 airports, in August 1953, to 65, in May 1968, to 63, and in November 1978, to 58.

On July 19, 1961, TWA was the first American airline with movies aboard its aircraft when it showed By Love Possessed, starring Lana Turner and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. in the first-class section of a Boeing 707 flying New York to Los Angeles.

Charles C. Tillinghast Jr.

Hughes relinquished power in 1961 in the battle over the purchase of the Convair 880 jetliners. In the deal, Charles C. Tillinghast Jr. became chairman and oversaw the airline until 1976. The battle over Hughes' control continued until a court order in 1966 forced Hughes to sell his stock at a profit of $546 million (which he used to purchase the regional carrier Air West and rename the airline Hughes Airwest).

Under new management, the Trans World Corporation (TWA's holding company) expanded to purchase the overseas operations of Hilton Hotels. In 1964, TWA started a program to assist in the United States' export expansion effort that became known as the TWA MarketAir Corporate Logo to promote business passenger air travel and as a marketing tool to be used in air cargo sales. This marketing effort was initiated by the Senior Vice President, Marketing, Thomas B. McFadden in collaboration with the Bureau of International Commerce, important U.S. financial institutions, and export expansion entities to offer tools that small and medium size U.S. companies could use at low or no cost to expand their exports. Staff management of this program was under the direction of Joseph S. Cooper. A key element of this program was the MarketAir Newsletter in a number of languages targeted to American exporters and international travelers.

Revolutionary airport design

TWA was one of the first airlines, after Delta Air Lines, to embrace the spoke-hub distribution paradigm and was one of the first with the Boeing 747. It planned to use the 747 along with the supersonic transport to whisk people between the West/Midwest (via Kansas City) and New York City (via John F. Kennedy International Airport) to Europe and other world destinations. As part of this strategy, TWA's hub airports were to have gates close to the street. The TWA-style airport design proved impractical when Cuban hijackings in the late 1960s required central security checkpoints.

John F. Kennedy International Airport

In 1962, TWA opened Trans World Flight Center, now Terminal 5 (or simply T5), at New York City's JFK Airport and designed by Eero Saarinen. The terminal was expanded in 1969 to accommodate Jumbo Jets, went dormant in 2001, and underwent renovation and expansion beginning in 2005. A new terminal with a crescent-shaped entry hall and now serving JetBlue Airways opened in 2008—partially encircling the landmark.

Kansas City International Airport

Kansas City approved a $150 million bond issue for the TWA hub there. TWA vetoed plans for a Dulles International Airport-style hub-and-spoke gate structure. Following union strife, the airport ultimately cost $250 million when it opened in 1972, with Vice President Spiro Agnew officiating. TWA's gates, which were intended to be within 100 feet (30 m) of the street, became obsolete because of security issues. Kansas City refused to rebuild its terminals as Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport rebuilt its similar terminals, forcing TWA to look for a new hub. Missouri politicians moved to keep it in the state and, in 1982, TWA began a decade-long move to Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri.

All-jet fleet

On April 7, 1967, TWA became one of the USA's first all-jet airlines with the retirement of their last Lockheed L-749A Constellation and L-1649 Starliner cargo aircraft. That morning, throughout the TWA system, aircraft ground-service personnel placed a booklet on every passenger seat titled "Props Are For Boats."

In 1967-72, TWA was the world's third-largest airline by passenger-miles, behind Aeroflot and United. In 1969, TWA carried the most transatlantic passengers of any airline; until then Pan American World Airways had always been number one. In the Transpacific Route Case of 1969, TWA was given authority to fly across the Pacific to Hawaii and Taiwan, and for a few years TWA had a round-the-world network.

In 1969, TWA opened the Breech Academy on a 25-acre (100,000 m2) campus in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kansas, to train its flight attendants, ticket agents, and travel agents, as well as to provide flight simulators for its pilots. It became the definitive airline facility, training other airlines staff as well as its own.

The airline continued to expand European operations in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. In 1987, TWA had a trans-Atlantic system reaching from Los Angeles to Bombay, including virtually every major European population center, with ten United States gateways.

1970s

In 1975, Trans World Airlines was headquartered in Turtle Bay, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.

1980s

Facing the pressures of deregulation, the airline consolidated its route system around a domestic hub in Saint Louis (aided by its purchase of Ozark Air Lines in 1986) and an international gateway in New York. It was able to remain profitable during this time because of its good pre-deregulation route positioning and the relatively low costs of adapting its operations. In 1985, Carl Icahn bought the airline operations from the Trans World Corporation and appointed himself as chairman of the newly independent airline. Also in 1985, TWA closed their hub at Pittsburgh International Airport after nearly 20 years as a hub.

TWA had pilot bases in many European cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt, Zurich, Rome, and Athens. These bases were used to provide crews for the Boeing 727s which TWA operated in its European route network. Its Boeing 727 aircraft served Cairo, Athens, Rome, London, Paris, Geneva, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Zurich, Amsterdam, Oslo, Vienna, and Istanbul.

In 1989, TWA decided to replace its fleet of Boeing 727 Series 100 aircraft with the former Ozark DC-9s. This decision was based on the economics of operating three-crew airplanes (727s) with three engines, versus operating two-crew airplanes (DC-9s) with two engines. Both airplanes had approximately the same passenger and cargo capacity, so it was decided to replace the Boeing fleet. In order to prepare for this transition, TWA positioned several million dollars worth of spare parts for the DC-9s in Germany. This was a requirement dictated by the German government. If TWA wanted to use DC-9s in the service of the German population, then TWA had to provide readily available spare parts for its fleet. The airline also sent its senior DC-9 pilots (known as Check Airmen) to Europe to observe the operations in preparation for the changeover of the crews that was to follow. Shortly before the DC-9 airplanes began arriving in Germany, however, the entire plan was canceled because the leasing contracts that Carl Icahn had created for the former Ozark DC-9s specifically forbade any operations outside the continental limits of the United States.

In 1987, Icahn moved the company's main offices from Manhattan, New York City to office buildings he owned in Mount Kisco.

TWA's zenith occurred in the summer of 1988, when, for the only time, the airline would carry more than 50 percent of all trans-Atlantic passengers. Every day, Boeing 747, Lockheed L-1011, and Boeing 767 aircraft would depart to more than 30 cities in Europe, fed by a small but effective domestic operation focused on moving U.S. passengers to New York or other gateway cities for widebody service across the Atlantic, while a similar inter-European operation would shuttle non-U.S. passengers to TWA's European gateways - London, Paris (which was even considered a European hub by TWA) and Frankfurt - for travel to the United States. Icahn's pressing needs for additional capital forced him to sell the airline's Heathrow operations to American Airlines at about the same time that Pan American World Airways sold its Heathrow operation to United Airlines.

1990s

1992 bankruptcy

Tillinghast ignored the trans-Pacific market and the dedicated air cargo market. He was reported to have said, "There's no money in the Pacific and there's no money in cargo. We're gonna' shrink this airline 'til it's profitable." These two oversights are said to have been the undoing of TWA, in addition to Sandro Andretta' s resignation in December 1991.

Airline deregulation hit TWA hard in the 1980s. TWA had badly neglected domestic U.S. expansion at a time when the newly deregulated domestic market was growing quickly. TWA's holding company, Trans World Corporation, spun off the airline, which then became starved for capital. The airline briefly considered selling itself to renowned corporate raider Frank Lorenzo in the 1980s, but ended up selling to yet another corporate raider, Carl Icahn, in 1985. Under Icahn's direction, many of its most profitable assets were sold to competitors, much to the detriment of TWA. Icahn was eventually ousted in 1993, though not before the airline was forced to file for bankruptcy on January 31, 1992. Icahn emerged unscathed. TWA moved its headquarters from Mt. Kisco to the former headquarters building of McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis soon after Icahn left.

1995 bankruptcy

When Carl Icahn left in 1993, he arranged to have TWA give Karabu Corp., an entity he controlled, the rights to buy TWA tickets at 45 percent off published fares through September 2003. This was named "The Karabu Deal." The ticket program agreement, which began on June 14, 1995, excluded tickets for travel which originated or terminated in St. Louis, Missouri. Tickets were subject to TWA's normal seat assignment and boarding pass rules and regulations, were non-assignable to any other carrier, and were non-endorsable. No commissions were paid to Karabu by TWA for tickets sold under the ticket program agreement.

By agreement dated August 14, 1995, Lowestfare.com LLC, a wholly owned operating subsidiary of Karabu, was joined as a party to the ticket program agreement. Pursuant to the ticket program agreement, Lowestfare.com could purchase an unlimited number of system tickets. System tickets are tickets for all applicable classes of service which were purchased by Karabu from TWA at a 45 percent discount from TWA's published fare. In addition to system tickets, Lowestfare.com could also purchase domestic consolidator tickets, which are tickets issued at bulk fare rates and were limited to specified origin/destination city markets and did not permit the holder to modify or refund a purchased ticket. Karabu's purchase of domestic consolidator tickets was subject to a cap of $70 million per year based on the full retail price of the tickets.

On most TWA flights, Karabu could buy at a heavy discount and then sell a certain portion of all TWA's available seats. As a result, TWA was hamstrung by the high proportion of heavily discounted seats that had been pre-sold and was essentially left with no control over its own pricing. It could not afford to discount any of its own seats, and if TWA wanted to increase revenue on busy routes by putting a larger plane into service, Karabu would only claim more seats. It is estimated TWA was losing around $150 million a year in revenue due to this deal.

To ameliorate the Karabu deal, TWA went in and out of bankruptcy in 1995.

Short turn-around

By 1998, TWA had reorganized as a primarily domestic carrier, with routes centered on hubs at St. Louis and New York. Partly in response to TWA Flight 800 and the age of its fleet, TWA announced a major fleet renewal, ordering 125 new aircraft. TWA paid for naming rights for the new Trans World Dome, home of the St. Louis Rams, in its corporate hometown. In June 1994, its headquarters moved to One City Centre in Downtown St. Louis.

TWA's fleet-renewal program included adding newer and smaller, more fuel-efficient longer-range aircraft such as the Boeing 757 and 767 and short-range aircraft such as the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and Boeing 717. Aircraft such as the Boeing 727 and 747, along with the Lockheed L-1011 and older DC-9s, some from Ozark and the 1960s, were retired. TWA also became one of the early customers for the Airbus A318 through International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC). TWA, had it continued operating through 2003, would have been the first U.S. carrier to fly the type.

TWA had international code-share agreements with Royal Jordanian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Air Europa, and Air Malta. In 1997, a code-share agreement was signed with Air Ukraine with plans to begin service between Paris and Kiev by 1999. Domestic code-share with America West Airlines was started, with long-term plans for a merger considered.

TWA's routes were also changed; several international destinations were dropped or changed. The focus of the airline became domestic with a few international routes through its St. Louis hub and smaller New York (JFK) and San Juan, Puerto Rico hubs. Domestically, the carrier improved services with redesigned aircraft and new services, including "Pay in Coach, Fly in First," where passengers could be upgraded to first class from coach when flying through St. Louis. Internationally, services were cut. European destinations eventually were limited to London and Paris; and in the Middle East, to Cairo, Riyadh and Tel Aviv.

2000s

TWA stated that it planned to make Los Angeles a focus city around October 2000, with a partnership with American Eagle Airlines as part of Trans World Connection.

Merger with American Airlines

Financial problems soon resurfaced and Trans World Airlines Inc. assets were acquired in April 2001 by AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, who quickly formed a new company called TWA Airlines LLC. As part of the deal, TWA declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy (for the third time) the day after it agreed to the purchase. The terms of the deal included a $745 million payment. The bankruptcy court approved the purchase over a rival bid by Jet Acquisition Group, an investment group fronted by Ralph Atkin, founder of SkyWest Airlines. The total value of TWA's assets and assumed liabilities was estimated to be $2 billion. American did not claim the naming rights for the Rams' home, which eventually became the Edward Jones Dome.

TWA booking ended on November 30, 2001.

TWA Airlines LLC flew its last flight on December 1, 2001 with an MD-80 aircraft (N948TW). The ceremonial last flight was Flight 220 from Kansas City, Missouri to St. Louis, with CEO Captain William Compton at the controls. The final flight before TWA officially became part of American Airlines was completed between St. Louis and Las Vegas, Nevada, also on December 1, 2001. At 10:00 p.m. CST on that date, employees began removing all TWA signs and placards from airports around the country, replacing them with American Airlines signs. At midnight, all TWA flights officially became listed as American Airlines flights. Some aircraft carried hybrid American/TWA livery during the transition, with American's tricolor stripe on the fuselage and TWA titles on the tail and forward fuselage. Signage still bears the TWA logo in portions of Concourse D at Lambert St. Louis International Airport. On some MD-80 aircraft, the cabinets retain TWA logos.

American Airlines acquired some Ambassadors Clubs; other Ambassadors Clubs closed on December 2, 2001.

One lit TWA sign still exists (as of 2013) on the east side of Saarinen's TWA Flight Center terminal facing JetBlue's Terminal 5. JetBlue will keep the lit TWA sign on the TWA Flight Center.

TWA's St. Louis hub shrank after the merger, due to its proximity to American's larger hub at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. As a result, American initially replaced TWA's St. Louis mainline hub with regional jet service (going from over 800 operations a day to just over 200) and downsized TWA's maintenance base in Kansas City. In September 2009, American Airlines announced its intent to shut down the St. Louis hub it inherited from TWA and, in October 2009, American Airlines announced its intent to close the Kansas City maintenance base by September 2010.

American Airlines Group

On December 16, 2013, Doug Parker, CEO of American Airlines Group, announced that TWA heritage aircraft will be added in the future, "We will continue that tradition at American, including introducing a TWA aircraft in the future and keeping a US Airways livery aircraft. That also means we will keep a heritage American livery in the fleet". The remaining TWA MD-83s will stay in service until around 2018 when the last former TWA, Inc. aircraft will be retired. TWA, Inc. retirees have their flying privileges restored and are no longer segregated from the American Airlines retirees with the TWR classification.

Accidents and incidents

Since 1942, TWA was involved in 84 incidents.

  • One of the first to gain wide press coverage was the crash of NC1946 (a DC-3), operating Flight 3, which killed Hollywood film star Carole Lombard, her mother, and 20 others.
  • On July 11. 1946, a TWA Lockheed Constellation, reg. NC86513, operating as TWA flight 513, a training flight, crashed in Reading, Pennsylvania. Out of 6 six crew members, only one survived. The crash was caused by a fire in the cargo hold, and grounded all Constellations from July 12 until August 23, 1946.
  • Another disaster that gained widespread coverage was the collision of a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation with a United Airlines' Douglas DC-7 over the Grand Canyon in 1956, which killed all 128 people on board both airliners. This accident led to groundbreaking changes in the regulation of flight operations in the United States.
  • A similar event occurred in 1960, this time in New York City, when another TWA L-1049 collided with a United Douglas DC-8. The disaster killed 134 people: 84 on board the UAL DC-8, 44 on board the TWA L-1049 and six people on ground. There were no survivors from either airliner.

Terrorist target

From 1969 to 1986, five TWA airliners were terrorist targets for Palestinian guerrilla groups, four of which were hijackings and two, bombings, mainly because the airline had a strong European presence, was a flag carrier for the United States of America, and flew to Israel.

  • In 1969, TWA Flight 840 from Rome to Athens was hijacked and forcibly diverted to Damascus. Nobody was injured, but the aircraft's nose was blown up (although replaced and the plane returned to service).
  • In 1970, TWA Flight 741 was hijacked after taking off from Frankfurt am Main, Germany en route to New York. It was taken to Dawson's Field in Jordan, along with two other hijacked aircraft. All three aircraft were empty of passengers and crew when they were destroyed. A fourth aircraft landed in Cairo, Egypt and suffered a similar fate.
  • In 1971, three members of the group "Republic of New Afrika" who had murdered a New Mexico State police officer on November 8 hijacked TWA Flight 106, a Boeing 727, from Albuquerque to Havana. Passengers were released in Tampa, Florida.
  • In 1974, TWA Flight 841 from Tel Aviv to New York City crashed into the Ionian Sea shortly after takeoff from Athens en route to Rome after a bomb believed to have been in the cargo hold exploded, killing all 88 on board.
  • In 1976, TWA Flight 355 was hijacked by five Croatian separatists as it flew from New York–LaGuardia to Chicago. They ordered the pilot to fly to Montreal, where the plane was refueled, and then made additional refueling stops in Gander and Keflavik; at some of these stops, the hijackers unloaded propaganda pamphlets that they demanded to be dropped over Montreal, Chicago, New York, London, and Paris. At the plane's final stop, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, the hijackers surrendered after direct talks with U.S. ambassador Kenneth Rush, and their explosives were revealed to be fakes.
  • In 1985, TWA Flight 847 from Athens to Rome was hijacked first to Beirut, then to Algiers, back to Beirut, back to Algiers, and finally back to Beirut—with some of its fuel being paid for by the Shell credit card of flight attendant Uli Derickson. United States Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Stethem was singled out by Hezbollah as a member of the American military. The hijackers beat and tortured Stethem; Mohammed Ali Hammadi murdered the dying sailor and dumped his body on the tarmac. Robert Stethem was awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with burial in Arlington National Cemetery. The memory of Robert Dean Stethem is honored by his nation with a namesake U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Stethem (DDG-63).
  • In 1986, TWA Flight 840 was attacked with an on-board bomb, causing four Americans (including a nine-month-old infant) to be ejected from the aircraft to their deaths. Five others on the aircraft were injured as the cabin experienced a rapid decompression. The remaining 110 passengers survived the incident as pilot Richard "Pete" Petersen made an emergency landing.

TWA Flight 800

TWA's worst accident occurred on July 17, 1996, when Flight 800, a Boeing 747 en route to Paris, exploded over the Atlantic Ocean near Long Island, killing all 230 people on board. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the most likely cause of the disaster was a center-fuel-tank explosion sparked by exposed wiring. In their subsequent coverage, the media focused heavily on the fact that TWA's airline fleet was among the oldest in service. The flight was under the command of Captain Steven Snyder, a veteran TWA pilot.

Crew bases

TWA had crew bases in Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Frankfurt. International flight attendants' crew bases were located in Paris, Rome, Hong Kong, and, at one time, Cairo. Starting in 1996, TWA had a "West Coast Regional Domicile," in which pilots and flight attendants covered originating flights out of major West Coast U.S. airports from San Diego, California, north to San Francisco.

Ambassadors Club

TWA operated Ambassadors Club locations in various airports. American Airlines acquired some clubs, and other clubs closed on December 2, 2001.

Trans World Airlines (TWA) : Your comments on this subject
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