I'm willing to defend TWA. In the past few years of flying with them about 80% of the time, I think they compare well to the rest of the majors. Most of all I believe that TWA is willing to try new things and make changes that benefit the passengers.

I think that the service agents, pilots and FA's do a nice job taking care of the passengers. I haven't run into any rude ones lately.

The route structure is not the best except if you fly out of St. Louis and maybe JFK to Florida. For me, St. Louis is ideal because it's small enough to get in and out quickly, but I imagine that most connecting passengers don't like it too much. I haven't been delayed much at all over the past year, maybe 10% of my flights and never more than 30 minutes late landing.

If you fly enough to make higher elite levels in their Aviator frequent flyer program, the free, unlimited upgrades are outstanding. Not only that, but any member of the frequent flyer program can purchase an upgrade 2 hours before a flight based on availability for $25 and up. TWA is the only airline to offer this.

I can't speak much about their coach class comfort because I haven't been back there in over a year. Up front it compares well with all the other majors (except to trans-con premium flights and on United domestic first catering which is the best offered I believe.)

The fleet is getting better. This past weekend I had a flight on a brand-new (2 weeks old) 717. It's nice to fly on a really new aircraft. It seems to me that more of the heavily traveled and longer distance flights are being serviced by 757 and above. Personally, I don't mind flying the MD80 out to Seattle.

I am absolutely happy to fly TWA. There are a few improvements I'd like to see though. I wish they had better service to Europe or at least better partners. They are fairly limited on both of these. I wish they would go back to the expanded legroom in coach (even though it really doesn't affect me.) They were obviously ahead of the curve on this one. I hope at some point they have the resources to upgrade their fleet of widebodies. Some of their current 767's are pretty old and ratty. I wish they would put an Ambassador's Club back out at the end of Concourse C in St. Louis. No one wants to trek all the way back to the terminal no matter how big and nice that one is.

You won't find very many active posters here on the TWA board but I know there are others around who still like TWA. I think they're doing a nice job.