Originally Posted by upgrade lover
At the time of the "takeover," the L10s were long gone. BTW in their day, TWA's L10s were one of the most comfortable ways to fly upfront. What AA did get was a very large base of loyal TWA customers who have stayed with AA due to very nice integration of the TWA FFB program into the AAdvantage program. TW had a large base of business travellers both domestic and overseas. What really screwed TW was the very cheap tix they were forced to sell after the raping by Carl Ichan with his KARABU deal. I am one of the ex TWAers and I do miss all my old friends at TW. AA and its employees have made me feel welcome and it will be a very good day when the ex-TW FA's will be recalled.
As many have stated, TWA's flleet was one of the newest of US airlines at the time of the merger. all 27 757s less than 4 years old, 40 MD-80s less than 3 years old, 30 717s all within a year of their accpetance, and a handful of 767s that were procured within the past 5 years. The 727s, 747s, L-1011s had all been retired years before, and AA quickly cancelled plans for more 717s and slightly used MD-80s that were to replace 27 DC-9s and some of the older MD-80s. Airbus 318s were on order and TWA was to be the launch customer.
I like Upgrade lover and many other EXPs had come from TWA where we were incredibly loyal to an airline and their airline that provided us personalized service. My family will always remember those fine years when TWA was the airline of choice.
I agree with mvoight that the job action in early summer-late spring was the final straw, and at that point, Captain Bill began to shop TWA to other carriers. Up until that point there were plans to double TWA's fleet and begin lots of point to point flying, including returning to destinations in Europe where they had been able to reject life-long contracts for employees stationed at these destinations.