1990s Trans World Airlines

1 1990s

1.1 1992 bankruptcy
1.2 1995 bankruptcy
1.3 short turn-around

1990s

in 1990, icahn s pressing needs additional capital forced him sell airline s heathrow operations american airlines same time pan american world airways sold heathrow operation united.

1992 bankruptcy

tillinghast ignored trans-pacific market , dedicated air cargo market. reported have said, there s no money in pacific , there s no money in cargo. re gonna shrink airline til s profitable. these 2 oversights said have been undoing of twa, in addition sandro andretta s resignation in december 1991.

airline deregulation hit twa hard in 1980s. twa had badly neglected domestic u.s. expansion @ time when newly deregulated domestic market growing quickly. twa s holding company, trans world corporation, spun off airline, became starved capital. airline briefly considered selling renowned corporate raider frank lorenzo in 1980s, ended selling yet corporate raider, carl icahn, in 1985. under icahn s direction, many of profitable assets sold competitors, detriment of twa. icahn ousted in 1993, though not before airline forced file bankruptcy on january 31, 1992. icahn emerged unscathed. twa moved headquarters mt. kisco former headquarters building of mcdonnell douglas in st. louis after icahn left.

1995 bankruptcy

when carl icahn left in 1993, arranged have twa give karabu corp., entity controlled, rights buy twa tickets @ 45% off published fares through september 2003. named karabu deal . ticket program agreement, began on june 14, 1995, excluded tickets travel originated or terminated in st. louis, missouri. tickets subject twa s normal seat assignment , boarding pass rules , regulations, not assignable other carrier, , not endorsable. no commissions paid karabu twa tickets sold under ticket program agreement.

at heyday, twa operated fleet of 747-100 aircraft. particular aircraft later exploded in midair twa flight 800.

by agreement dated august 14, 1995, lowestfare.com llc, wholly owned operating subsidiary of karabu, joined party ticket program agreement. pursuant ticket program agreement, lowestfare.com purchase unlimited number of system tickets. system tickets tickets applicable classes of service purchased karabu twa @ 45% discount twa s published fare. in addition system tickets, lowestfare.com purchase domestic consolidator tickets, tickets issued @ bulk fare rates , limited specified origin/destination city markets , did not permit holder modify or refund purchased ticket. karabu s purchase of domestic consolidator tickets subject cap of $70 million per year based on full retail price of tickets.

on twa flights, karabu buy @ heavy discount , sell portion of twa s available seats. result, twa hamstrung high proportion of heavily discounted seats had been sold , left no control on own pricing. not afford discount of own seats, , if twa wanted increase revenue on busy routes putting larger plane service, karabu claim more seats. twa losing estimated $150 million year in revenue due deal.

to ameliorate karabu deal, twa went in , out of bankruptcy in 1995.

short turn-around

one city centre in downtown st. louis, @ 1 time served headquarters of twa

by 1998, twa had reorganized domestic carrier, routes centered on hubs @ st. louis , new york. partly in response twa flight 800 , age of fleet, twa announced major fleet renewal, ordering 125 new aircraft. twa paid naming rights new trans world dome, home of st. louis rams, in corporate hometown. in june 1994, headquarters moved 1 city centre in downtown st. louis.

twa s fleet-renewal program included adding newer , smaller, more fuel-efficient, longer-range aircraft such boeing 757 , 767 , short-range aircraft such mcdonnell douglas md-80 , boeing 717. aircraft such boeing 727 , 747, along lockheed l-1011 , older dc-9s, ozark , 1960s, retired. twa became 1 of customers airbus a318 through international lease finance corporation. twa, had continued operating through 2003, have been first u.s. carrier fly type.

twa had international code-share agreements royal jordanian airlines, kuwait airways, royal air maroc, air europa, , air malta. in 1997, code-share agreement signed air ukraine plans begin service between paris , kiev 1999. domestic code-share america west airlines started, long-term plans merger considered.

the airlines routes changed; several international destinations dropped or changed. focus of airline became domestic few international routes through st. louis hub , smaller new york (jfk) , san juan, puerto rico hubs. domestically, carrier improved services redesigned aircraft , new services, including pay in coach, fly in first , whereby coach passengers upgraded first class when flying through st. louis. internationally, services cut. european destinations limited london , paris; , in middle east, cairo, riyadh , tel aviv.