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Logo TWA Stripesjpg
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300px
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TW
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TWA
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TWA
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Trans World Airlines, Inc
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1925 (as Western Air Express)
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St Louis , Missouri , USA
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Dick Robbins (1930-34), Jack Frye (1934-47), Howard Hughes (1939-65), Ralph Damon (1948-56), Carter Burgess (1956-57), Charles Thomas (1958-60), Charles Tillinghast (1961-76), LE Smart (1976-), CE Meyer Jr (1976-85), Carl Icahn (1985-93), William R Howard (1993-94), Jeffrey H Erickson (1994-97), Gerald L Gitner (1997-99), William Compton (1999-01)
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Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport <br> John F Kennedy International Airport
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Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport
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Aviators
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Ambassadors Club
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190
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is prepared for takeoff from Columbus, Ohio in 1940.]]
, commonly known as '''TWA''', was an
American Airline which was acquired by
American Airlines in April
2001 . For many years it was headquartered at the
Kansas City Downtown Airport , as well as
Midtown Manhattan in
New York City . At the time of the merger, it was headquartered in
St. Louis ,
Missouri , and used the airport nearby,
Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport , as its major hub.
The airline was founded on
July 13 ,
1925 , as Western Air Express. In
1930 it merged with Transcontinental Air Transport (T-A-T) to become Transcontinental and Western Air (T&WA).
Howard Hughes purchased T&WA in
1939 , and the airline expanded dramatically under the leadership of Hughes and CEO
Jack Frye . After breaking
Pan American World Airways legal designation as the United States' sole international carrier, TWA began transatlantic service in
1946 using new
Lockheed Constellation aircraft. Until the early 1970s, TWA and Pan Am were the only U.S. airlines serving Europe.
In
1950 , the airline changed its name to Trans World Airlines. It established routes from Europe to
Asia during the 1950s and 1960s, flying its aircraft as far east as
Hong Kong . In the
Transpacific Route Case of
1969 , TWA was given authority to extend its route network across the
Pacific Ocean as well. TWA was also a major helper in the foundation of
Saudi Arabian Airlines and
Ethiopian Airlines .
Hughes' growing eccentricities caused TWA to sue for his removal as chairman in
1961 . Under new corporate management, the TWA Corporation expanded to purchase the overseas operations of
Hilton Hotel s. By
1969 , TWA's transatlantic operation was larger than Pan Am's.
TWA's landmark .
Airline Deregulation hit TWA hard. TWA's holding company,
Trans World Corporation , spun off the airline. The airline briefly considered selling itself to corporate raider
Frank Lorenzo in the
1980s , but ended up selling to corporate raider
Carl Icahn in
1985 . Under his 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 in
1992 . Icahn emerged unscathed.
On
July 17 ,
1996 TWA Flight 800 exploded over the
Atlantic near
Long Island , killing all aboard. The
National Transportation Safety Board concluded that the most likely cause of the disaster was a center fuel tank explosion sparked by exposed wiring. The cause is debated, but the media focused heavily on the fact that TWA's airline fleet was among the oldest in service.
Boeing , the manufacturer of the 747 series, has since modified the fuel tanks to prevent the buildup of dangerous fumes, adding increased wire insulation as well as introducing nitrogen as a topper in place of flammable air.
By
1998 , TWA reorganized as a primarily domestic carrier, with routes centered around 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.
However, financial problems began to resurface shortly afterward, and TWA's airline assets were acquired by ) on the runway side of Saarinen's New York JFK terminal.
TWA's St. Louis hub suffered after the merger due to its proximity to American's much larger hub at
Chicago 's
O'Hare International Airport . As a result, American replaced TWA's St. Louis mainline hub with
Regional Jet service (going from over 800 operations a day to fewer than 300) and downsized TWA's maintenance base in Kansas City. Furloughs and layoffs have left less than 1,500 of 24,000 TWA employees with American Airlines jobs. Although American Airlines acquired over 200 aircraft from TWA (MD80s, 717s, 757s and 767s), many analysts believe the TWA assets were not worth the additional debt inherited from TWA .
