Well, some of the 3Q numbers look good, but what has most people worried that cash on hand declined by a big chunk (I want to say $37 million). That was unexpected, I think, and against the trend at TW. Cash on hand is down to about $150 million, and with the winter coming up, it's a concern. I think the fourth quarter will be most telling. I'm considering buying some shares depending on what happens then.

Holly Hegeman has been incredibly gloomy about TWA for years now, yet they're still around. I do think it ticks off the professional prognosticators that TWA hasn't died yet. They're like the bumblebee of the airline business; the laws of physics (economics) say they shouldn't fly, yet there they are.

I do think, however, that the next recession and/or a fuel price spike caused by war in the mideast will force a little drama in the TWA story... a protective merger, at least... if they can't make money in the current climate, how are they supposed to get through a downturn? I know, I sound just like Holly.

Seattle has always been a really strong market for TWA. Those MDs come in here from STL full all the time. And they used to do a SEA-JFK-FRA 767 that was pretty popular with some of my (few non-UA zombie) colleagues here in SEA. Some of us West Coasters have hope that with LAX designated the next TW "focus city," they may discover the opportunity that exists for a new service oriented player here in the Left Coast Corridor.

It does seem a shame that with a tiny handful of European destinations plus TLV, Cairo and Saudi, there is nothing remotely trans-worldish about TWA anymore. It's a starving horse of a route system they've got there.

One poster on another TWA board has pointed out that the airline serves just as many int'l destinations as it did 4-5 years ago. They just now happen to be located mostly in the Caribbean and/or Mexico, not Europe. True, just not as glamorous.