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Trans World Airlines

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1930 until it was acquired by American Airlines in 2001. It was formed as Transcontinental & Western Air to operate a route from New York City to Los Angeles via St. Louis, Kansas City, and other stops, with Ford Trimotors. 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.[2]

"TWA" redirects here. For other uses, see TWA (disambiguation).

IATA

July 16, 1930 (1930-07-16)
(as Transcontinental & Western Air)

December 1, 2001 (2001-12-01)
(acquired by American Airlines)[1]

www.twa.com (Archived 2001-10-25 at the Wayback Machine)

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.[3][4] 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 crash of TWA Flight 800 in 1996, which would become the third deadliest aviation accident in U.S history.


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.[5] The airline later developed its largest hub at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. Its main transatlantic 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.[6]


In January 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. TWA continued to exist as an LLC under American Airlines until July 1, 2003.[7] American Airlines closed the St. Louis hub in 2009.[8]

[50]

Air Europa

Air Malta

[51]

America West Airlines

American Airlines

[52]

Kuwait Airways

[53]

Royal Air Maroc

[54]

Royal Jordanian

For commuter destinations, see Trans World Express and Trans World Connection.


TWA had codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

In 1969, 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).

TWA Flight 840

In 1970, was hijacked after taking off from Frankfurt am Main en route to New York City. 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 and had a similar fate.

TWA Flight 741

In 1971, three members of the group "" 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.

Republic of New Afrika

In 1974, 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.

TWA Flight 841

In 1976, was hijacked by five Croatian separatists as it flew from New York–LaGuardia to O'Hare International. 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.[60][61]

TWA Flight 355

In 1985, 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).

TWA Flight 847

In 1986, , on approach to Athens, Greece, 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, and pilot Richard "Pete" Petersen made an emergency landing in Athens.

TWA Flight 840

Crew bases[edit]

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.[62]

 

California

 – Regional U.S. airline that operated feeder flights for other airlines

Ransome Airlines

List of defunct airlines of the United States

Archived 2016-01-13 at the Wayback Machine

TWA Museum at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City

on YouTube

Video Presentation: TWA Museum at Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City

US Airways and American Airlines merger site

American Airlines site

at the Wayback Machine (archive index)

TWA official website

has many TWA timetables from 1931 until 1968, showing where they flew, how long it took and how much it cost.

TWA - Trans World Airlines - Transcontinental and Western Air

has three TWA timetables including the final TWA timetable.

Wayback Machine

TWA History - TWA Official Website

The karabu deal contract

Historical TWA aircraft images

at the American Heritage Center

Trans World Airlines records

(in-house magazine of TWA) via the State Historical Society of Missouri

Digital collection of TWA Skyliner

TWA Retired Pilots Association