Aviation Week & Space Tech. article on TWA.

[BigMotorToter]

The following appeared in the February 21, 2005 Aviation Week & Space Technology:


As "The Aviator" is being hailed in movie theaters worldwide, we should take a moment to reflect on a key aviation event of 2004--the final day of TWA as it became AA after 79 years of pioneering the skies.


TWA was the first airline with scheduled coast-to-coast service, tri-motor airplanes, four-engine airplanes, flight plans, checklists, a weather department, two-way radios, pressurized aircraft, automatic pilots, non-stop transcontinental flights, flight attendants, fresh-brewed coffee, in-flight meals and movies, all-jet international service, and the first twin-engine flight across the Atlantic (an ETOPS 767).


Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes and Charles Lindbergh all flew TWA aircraft. The airline's employees were preeminent in fuel conservation, on-time performance and customer service awards. TWA has not lost a passenger due to maintenance or crew error for more than 30 years, and has subsequently flown an astounding 530 million passengers 780 billion RPMs on 6.8 million flights without an airline-caused loss.


This is the ultimate testament to the skill, dedication, training, innovation and professionalism of TWA's maintenance, flight crews and the thousands of employees who supported them. TWA Capt. (ret.) Hugh Schoelzel
Litchfield, Conn.

 

[AA717driver]

Hugh is the epitome of how a Chief Pilot should "rule". A true gentleman who wasn't afraid to go fly the line (without a check airman holding his hand) unlike some of his predecessors.

He introduced the concept of fairness to Rm. 202, Hanger 12.

TC

 

[dispatchguy]

I work at the STL training center, the old TWA Flight Center on Natural Bridge Road. It's kinda cool seeing the TWA stuff still around - the DC9-30 CPT on the 1st floor (I WANT THAT), the B767 full-motion Flight Simulator (the only bay that still has a sim in it), all of the other TWA and Ozark memories around the place, and all of the old TWA posters still on the walls...

Sad, still sad...

 

[N905TW]

Hugh is the epitome of how a Chief Pilot should "rule". A true gentleman who wasn't afraid to go fly the line (without a check airman holding his hand) unlike some of his predecessors.

He introduced the concept of fairness to Rm. 202, Hanger 12.


Oh the memories... Sure do miss Hangar 12, leaks and all..... not to mention our JFK Terminal 5. There was nothing quite like walking up to the mezzanine level around 5 or 6pm, and seeing a shiny 747 on gate 32 in front of those huge glass windows, getting ready to head to Rome or Athens, Frankfurt or London....

This article touches on many of the points that we as TWA'ers were, and always will be proud of. AMR can take our jobs, steal our planes, close our terminals, and erase our colors.... but Trans World will live on in the hearts and souls of each and every one of us that was blessed and fortunate enough to proudly wear those gold wings.

To those of us that worked as hard as we could to save her, TWA was always more than a job, it was a family. And it always will be.


LEADING THE WAY . . . TWA===========================

 

[Spooky 1]

I never flew for TWA (failed to get there much to my extreme disapointment). having said that I knew numerous pilots and flight attendants dating back to the early sixties and this was certainly a class act in avaition. Feel badly for their demise, especially at the hands of AA. They certainly were a shadow of their former greatness by the time AA got a hold of them but none the less it was a sorry experience to watch them fade into obscurity. Gone but not forgotten!

 

[C-150ETOPS]

Although I would disagree with the TWA'ers on the seniority issues, their safety record and worldwide flight experience was something overlooked by the inbred residents of a certain "Academy" located in the north central part of the largest state in the lower 48.

If had been up to me, I would have kept the TWA training crew and "fenced" the "other" training group to somewhere like Sao Paulo.

 

[BigMotorToter]

C-150ETOPS,

Maybe you would change your mind on the seniority issue if you realized that the people with the excellent safety record are not flying those airplanes anymore and the people with the terrible safety record still are.

I love the rest of your post though. Take care.

 

[Dizel8]

While not that old, I flew across the pond on a TWA L-1011. Asked the F/A if I could visit the flight deck and she inquired of the Captain, who invited me.

She opens the door and what a sight. Bathed in bright sunlight, three pilots doing their jobs ( and my dream). Captain tells me to sit on his left, next to a huge window. We talk a bit about flying, flight schools, TWA etc.

Only a brief moment in time, but sure made an impression on me and I can still vividly see the image, so thanks for that memory TWA.

 

[dispatchguy]

When I was leaving the STL Flight Center, there was someone who had the perfect licence plate on their car; UOME AA

I about fell over laughing

 

[GVFlyer]

Having spent the majority of my military career in Stan / Eval, I always admired TWA's training and standards programs.

GV

 

[brokea$$pilot]

Twa,pan Am.....they Live On In Our Hearts

Twa And Pan Am Were The Reasons Why Many Of Us Wanted To Become Airline Pilots. I Remember My First Experience Flying Was On Twa From New York To Europe Back In 1981. I Was 3 Years Old And Boy What An Experience. It Was Beautiful,glamorous,and I Still Remember The Flight Attendant Pouring Some Milk In My Bottle And Taking Us To The Cockpit And There Ya Know It I Was Hooked. I Feel Priviliged To Have Experienced Those Days Of Flying Vs. What Our Kids Will Perceive...

 

[AA717driver]

Having spent the majority of my military career in Stan / Eval, I always admired TWA's training and standards programs.

GV

Thanks for the compliment, GV. The reports from my fellow TWA'ers fanning out into the industry are not encouraging on the training front. Too many training types feel that "busting your balls is an adequate substitute for quality instruction.TC

 

[AA717driver]

deleted double post.

 

[aa73]

C-150ETOPS,

Maybe you would change your mind on the seniority issue if you realized that the people with the excellent safety record are not flying those airplanes anymore and the people with the terrible safety record still are.

I love the rest of your post though. Take care.

I don't know of a correlation between seniority issues and saftey records? Our "terrible saftey record" pilot group flies 729 aircraft that came from various airlines, not just TWA.

I will agree to the fact that TWA had one of the best safety records of the industry from the 80s on, unfortunately for AA the 90s and on was our "down period"...

History has always shown that every airline goes through a certain number of years with less than spectacular safety record, I guess this is one of those times. We can only hope that it gets better, many changes are happening over there in Berlin (a.k.a. DFW), stuff that I never thought AA would actually incorporate. A lot of those changes are coming from the TWA folks which, with their record can only be a good thing.

Remember, it is always easy to bash the pilot group with the current run of bad luck. Next thing you know, it could very well be your own.

That said, I am proud to have flown many thousands of miles on both TWA and AA, incident-free.

Finally, I have never been treated better as a non rev than on TWA. That they were a class act is undisputable.

73
one of 2900 on the street

 

[Captain Overs]

The following appeared in the February 21, 2005 Aviation Week & Space Technology:


As "The Aviator" is being hailed in movie theaters worldwide, we should take a moment to reflect on a key aviation event of 2004--the final day of TWA as it became AA after 79 years of pioneering the skies.


TWA was the first airline with scheduled coast-to-coast service, tri-motor airplanes, four-engine airplanes, flight plans, checklists, a weather department, two-way radios, pressurized aircraft, automatic pilots, non-stop transcontinental flights, flight attendants, fresh-brewed coffee, in-flight meals and movies, all-jet international service, and the first twin-engine flight across the Atlantic (an ETOPS 767).




Wiley Post, Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes and Charles Lindbergh all flew TWA aircraft. The airline's employees were preeminent in fuel conservation, on-time performance and customer service awards. TWA has not lost a passenger due to maintenance or crew error for more than 30 years, and has subsequently flown an astounding 530 million passengers 780 billion RPMs on 6.8 million flights without an airline-caused loss.


This is the ultimate testament to the skill, dedication, training, innovation and professionalism of TWA's maintenance, flight crews and the thousands of employees who supported them. TWA Capt. (ret.) Hugh Schoelzel
Litchfield, Conn.

I guess all of this don't mean jack now.

 

[Nostromo]

Twa And Pan Am Were The Reasons Why Many Of Us Wanted To Become Airline Pilots. I Remember My First Experience Flying Was On Twa From New York To Europe Back In 1981. I Was 3 Years Old And Boy What An Experience. It Was Beautiful,glamorous,and I Still Remember The Flight Attendant Pouring Some Milk In My Bottle And Taking Us To The Cockpit And There Ya Know It I Was Hooked. I Feel Priviliged To Have Experienced Those Days Of Flying Vs. What Our Kids Will Perceive...

oH mY GoD! dID yOu cApItAlIzE tHe fIrSt lEtTeR oF eVeRyWoRd fOr eMpHaSiS? oR iS It tHeSe nEw fAnGlEd kEyBoArDs wItH tHe FuNnY QwErTy lAyOuT tHaT cOnFuSeS yOu? hArd tO ReAd, IsNT iT?

 

[matchthehatch]

On my first day of training at TWA, I was greeted by a package that read "Welcome to TWA, Captain ________". Although by no means did I or any other FO have any misconception of who was actually in charge, that one little statement was just the first glimpse into how flight crews would be trained and how important good CRM was to the airline. You want to hear something crazy? First Officers were were actually allowed and encouraged to make PA announcements on their legs! (I know, I know. It is a huge responsibility and we had to take a week-long course in proper PA etiquette.)

A perfect example of how good our flight and cabin crew CRM was can be found by the successful evacuation of 273 pax from a burning L-1011 through only 3 of 8 exits in 2 minutes. Or the successful emergency landing of an MD-80 in 2000 after the crew lost basically all electrical power at night. They won ALPA's Superior Airmanship Award for it. I believe the FO landed the airplane (no flaps) by the light of a flashlight.

Sound like I'm proud? I am.

 

[AA717driver]

aa73--Good post. Thank you.

TWA had its bad period during the late 60's and early '70's. Lot's of young Captains and junior crews from the large expansion.

The thing about AA that was disconcerting to most of us was how long it took management to realize there was a problem with both safety and effeciency. After busting our butts to squeeze every dollar from our operation (only to have Icahn get $.55 of it) AA's proceedures seemed to have been developed to be as ineffecient as possible. Excessive powerbacks, running the apu instead of plugging in electrical and air (TWA rampers never seemed to be able to accomplish that without prodding, either.) and not doing single engine taxi's.

On the safety side, there didn't seem to be an awareness in management or training that there was a problem. Now, they are changing proceedures to eliminate "heads down time" on the ground and emphasizing "flying the airplane first" in the cockpit. They've got a nice little program they are running in recurrent that has a slide show of all the accidents and the cause over the past 15 years with no commentary--kind of sobering. But it's effective. Many AA pilots comment afterwards that they had no idea that things were that bad.

I'm sure things will turn around just like they did at all the other carriers that experienced such a string.TC

 

[semperfido]

.......

 

[jetexas]

I would rather have seen TWA go under under on their own accord. An honorable death.