At 1939, Howard. Hughes became T&; The biggest investor of WA, he is called "the father of global airlines". At that time, TWA was the third largest airline in the United States, with Douglas DC-3 aircraft, and its route spanned the continental United States. Thanks to Howard Hughes, T&; WA made great progress, changed its name to TWA in 1950' s, and actively purchased the most advanced passenger planes in 1940s and 1950s. TWA has been expanding its routes throughout the American continent and around the world, taking the lead in providing transatlantic aircraft routes. TWA entered a golden period of development and became one of the major airlines in the United States.
In the1960s, TWA became one of the earliest airlines with jet fleet in the world. Terminal 5 of new york JFK International Airport, 1962, was completed, which was once a dedicated terminal of TWA. In the European market, TWA has more market share than Pan Am. 1969 obtained the permission of American authorities to enter the trans-Pacific shipping market for the first time.
TWA signed an order for Concorde supersonic airliner, but it didn't buy it because of the price, operating cost and noise of supersonic civil aircraft. TWA and Pan Am are the main customers of Boeing 747.
1979, the United States abolished the Air Traffic Control Act and relaxed air traffic control, which had a great impact on global aviation. Ignoring the profitable trans-Pacific shipping market (TWA's Asian route rights were sold to American airlines) and freight service is one of the reasons why TWA will fall into financial deterioration in the future.
In 1988, global air services account for more than 50% of passengers traveling between the two sides of the Atlantic. However, this record did not last long, and other American civil aviation companies, such as American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines (which obtained the European route rights from Pan Am), also joined the market competition. The deterioration of financial situation led TWA to declare bankruptcy on 1992. And declared bankruptcy again on 1995.
1996 On July 17, a Boeing 747 (N93 1 19 of TWA Flight 800) exploded over Long Island, new york. All 230 people on board were killed. The air crash dealt a fatal blow to the ailing TWA.
TWA has been reorganized to restore its previous reputation, including fleet update: TWA announced the purchase of new passenger planes, and the fleet was completely updated and reduced in size. Significantly cut international routes: the suspension of several international routes will shift the focus of operations to the domestic market in the United States.
200 1 1, twa filed for bankruptcy for the third time because it could not afford the restructuring funds. Finally, American Airlines offered help. Finally, TWA and American Airlines reached an agreement, and American Airlines merged TWA with American Airlines parent company AMR. At this point, global aviation has become history.
Terminal 5 of new york JFK International Airport, once a dedicated terminal for global aviation, became a dedicated terminal for low-cost airline JetBlue in 2008.