Starting life as Transcontinental & Western Air, then becoming Trans World Airlines, TWA was a major player in aviation. Founded in 1930 through a merger of smaller carriers, it flew its last flight on 1 December 2001, having been merged into American Airlines.
On the US aviation scene, its contemporaries were Pan American, United Airlines, Eastern Air Lines, Delta Air Lines and AA among others. Some remain with us today while others have been consigned to the airline graveyard in the sky.
Sky High… The Story of TWA
Produced by KETC St. Louis and originally broadcast in January 2001, this hour long presentation is a fascinating look into the airline’s history. From its humble beginnings through to the takeover, all the main events are touched on. It’s worth the watch, made even better by the excellent quality of the upload to YouTube.
There is some fantastic historical footage worth seeing too. Viewers looking for a bit of history about aviation in the US would enjoy this, as it’s not only about TWA. For example, it goes into detail about the early Air Mail contracts and how air traffic was once controlled. Plus there is fun information on how people still preferred train travel as flying was so dangerous back in the day!
Of course, the main event is TWA itself, including its famous (or infamous!) leaders such as Jack Frye, Howard Hughes and Carl Icahn. There are also interviews with a few employees of the airline who delve into their memories for some cool first hand stories from the past.
There are some great nuggets such as how the stewardesses avoided the jets and preferred to stay on piston equipment and the reasons behind that. Some high profile accidents are also mentioned. All in all, it’s a great presentation and well worth watching.
Overall Thoughts
From seeing the things people write on aviation forums, there appears to have been a real esprit de corps among the TWA employees. They all certainly seem to have had a lot of pride in their airline. A lot of that comes across in the presentation as well.
There is never a single reason why an airline goes out of business and there certainly were numerous events in the history of this airline that helped it go that way. A shame, but that’s life.
What did you think of TWA? Did you enjoy this documentary? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Tequask via Wikimedia Commons.
My TripAdvisor nickname is “TWAjunkie” so you know where my heart is. I flew them exclusively till they were no more, and I’ve never been treated as well on any other airline since their demise (except once, which was because of TWA, which I’ll tell you about later). The very best thing about TWA was (the unlimited upgrades aside) the employees who became friends, and whom I cherish to this day. Many of the girls in the club are still dear pals, some of the flight attendants as well, and we often, when together, relive the glory days and the sadness we felt as Ichan changed everything and ruined our beloved airline–though, during that time, the service and cheerfulness of the crews was amazing. My greatest TWA adventure was flying first class to Cairo, and I was on the Nile when 9-11 happened. We were stuck in Egypt for a week because nobody was flying to the US, and TWA’s Cairo office just closed down (the airline had already been swallowed up by AA and was due to stop flying very soon). The TWA office at the Cairo airport looked like a bomb had hit it and it seemed abandoned, but I heard the click of computer keys in a far corner and found the station manager trying to finish up rebooking passengers. She was a delight, and she rebooked me on BA to London, then on to LAX, in the first first class pod I’d ever seen. I’ll never forget the gin martinis, the lamb chops cooked to perfection, about 20 steps toward heaven above TWA, but BA never won a lasting place in my heart like TWA. Thank you for this doc. It almost made a grown man cry.
I love reading recollections like this! It seems like you made so many friends with the employees, you must have been flying with them a lot. It is a real shame the airline is gone, as I would be hard pressed to recall a bad comment about TWA. That Cairo story is pretty cool and you really lucked out there! Glad you enjoyed the documentary, I did too and though it was worth a share. Thanks for taking the time to write, I enjoyed the read!
Awesome story!❤️
Agreed!!
I was connecting through DFW on June 5 and was surprised to see an American Airlines 737 with the red TWA logo on its tail. I did a double-take and had to snap a few pics; it was cool to see.
That would have been really cool to see! I would have done the same 🙂
Oh jeez Trent! As you know I was an Ozark Airlines brat as my Mom worked for Ozark and retired from TWA in 1999. I’ve seen this a few years ago and rewatched parts of it just now. A great companion piece to this doc is the book “Howard Hughes’s Airline: An Informal History of TWA” by Robert Serling.
Some of the points of the book not really covered in the doc, but crucial to the story nonetheless:
TWA had so many chances to do it right. But history had other ideas. I knew the end was inevitable after flight 800. They tried, they really did, but alas. Now nothing in AA, their eventual purchaser, really pays homage to that great airline.
Some really good points there that I was generally unaware of. I think I’ll have to get the book and give it a read. I tend to know a bit about Pan Am, but less about TWA. Spinning off the airline which created the corporation really shows it was being run by bean counters. Same with the DC-9 fleet. A shame things ended as they did, really.
TWA documentary was very interesting. We flew TWA from 1974 -1993, between Brussels and New York as well as within the USA. TWA, for me was the best! Courtesy, service from the start of buying your ticket to the end of your flight. Even the NY terminal was as elegant as what the airline stood for. My last transatlantic flight, in first class, was 1993 from Brussels to NY. When I heard the airline was no more, it saddened me. Flying in today’s age is not as elegant as it used to be, and I miss that. To me anymore, flying is like cattle on and cattle off. It’s sad what it has come to, no pride, no respect! Thank you for this documentary!
I am really glad you enjoyed watching the documentary. It is great to hear from a regular flyer of TWA and your direct experience with the airline. Things are certainly different these days when it comes to airlines… people often remark that it is not as wonderful. Thanks very much for the comment!
AMR should have used the TWA name for their airline and use the American Airlines name for American Eagle. TWA had a better name. Similarly, Delta had the right to use the Pan Am name for about 6 months or a year. Delta should have paid for permanent rights. If so, the big 3 would be TWA, Pan Am, and United.
Actually, the Northwest name was stronger on the west coast, especially Pacific Northwest, and Midwest as well as Asia. Delta’s name was stronger in the South. If Delta didn’t get the Pan Am name, it should have been called Northwest Airlines or Northwest Orient.
I’ve thought the same thing a couple of times, that it would have made sense for TWA and Pan Am to have been kept, though I suppose by the time of their demise the cachet of the brands had worn away a bit. It’ll be interesting to see what is going on in 10, 20 and 30 years time and who is still around, especially in Europe. Thanks for the comment!