I have two (2) shares of TWA stock.

[trof]

The late, great Trans World Airlines.
I worked there from '68 till '94.
I left then to fly for a Japanese cargo line, so wasn't at TWA until the very bitter end and final bankruptcy.

While in the next-to-last bankruptcy we all took pay cuts to try and keep the old girl flying.
It was futile.
Some wag calculated that if we worked for free, it still wouldn't make up for all the money we were losing.

Management created some kind of bogus ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program) as 'compensation' for the pay cuts. For the last couple of years we were advertised as 'employee owned and operated'.
Big effing deal.

A year or so after I left, my ESOP was cashed out and I got this gen-yew-wine stock certificate in the mail for TWO, count 'em TWO shares of stock.

(facsimile)

I think it was going for about a buck ninety-eight a share then.
Sooner or later, TWA would screw ya', no matter what.
:-(

I have it framed and hanging in my little bar area in the kitchen.
Remembrance of things past.
whoopee
:party:

[Whoa_Nelly]

1. Just saw Ann and Don get on a TWA flight last night on TVLand

TWA and Braniff....used to always be the standards to appear on TV shows

[trof]

2. That Girl! Jeez, I can't believe I knew that from just 'Ann and Don'.

The brain is a funny thing.

TWA used to be featured in a lot of movies.
Product placement?
The head of the Motion Picture Academy, Jack Valenti, was on the board of directors.
One hand washes the other.

[ThomCat]

3. Are you sure

that you want your full name and address posted here? :shrug:

[trof]

4. Thanks for your concern, but that's why I put (facsimile).

I got the graphic from e-Bay.
If he don't care, I don't care.
:evilgrin:

[ThomCat]

8. Ah... Smart man.

:yourock:

[terrya]

5. Ah, the airline that Howard Hughes started.

I honestly thought TWA would last forever.

[trof]

6. They said the same thing about Pan Am.

Lockerbie was their final knell.
Flight 800 was ours.

I was bringing in a Nippon 747 the night TWA went down off Long Island.
I could see some of the flaming wreckage still floating.
Approach told me it was a TWA flight.
I thought "That's it. They're done."
:-(

[trof]

7. I didn't work for Hughes, but knew a few who did.

It was strange and weird to work for one guy who had total control.
Originally, Hughes owned it outright, lock, stock, and barrel.
Not a public company. No shareholders to answer to.
I could tell ya stories.
:eyes:

[terrya]

9. I imagine that working for him would have been "interesting"

Particularly in the later years....

[trof]

11. OK, here's one.

Told to me by a guy about 15 years senior to me.

Crew schedule called him one morning. Told him he was on crew to ferry one of TWA's new Lockheed Constellations (Queen of the fleet back then) to Tampa.


A ferry flight is simply to position an aircraft for a subsequent trip. No passengers, just crew.
"OK, then what?"
"Don't know. Dispo later. (Disposition later) Mr. Hughes just said to get one of the new Connies down to Tampa ASAP."
"OK."

They arrived in Tampa that afternoon. Full cockpit and cabin crew.
One of Hughes' minions met them at shipside. He instructed them to go to their regular layover hotel and await further instructions. All expenses paid. Just sign for meals.

The next morning, having heard nothing form the company, the captain called crew scheduling.
"Hi, this is Captain Smith in Tampa. What's going on with this Connie we brought down yesterday?"
"Sorry, sir. We have no further instructions as yet. Mr. Hughes says your crew is to remain on standby until further notice."
"OK."

'Standby' means you don't get far from the phone. Be ready to go at a moment's notice.
After a few days of hotel living, hanging around the pool, etc., the captain called again.
"Look, we've been down here almost a week. Any idea what's going on?"
"Sorry, sir. Nothing yet."
"OK, what about bringing another crew down to relieve us? This is getting kinda old. A lot of us would like to see our families again."
"Let me check. I'll call you back."

An hour later the phone rang.
"Captain Smith, this is crew schedule. I've been instructed to tell you to call any family members who would like to join you and they can come to Tampa on one of our scheduled flights. TWA will pay all their expenses."

And so they did. They also reached an agreement that only one crew member would have to pull 'standby' duty by the phone. They did it on a rotating basis so the rest could get out of the hotel and hit the beach, see some of the local sights.

After a week or so of paid family 'vacation' they finally got a call from crew schedule.
"OK, you can bring the plane back to Kansas City. You're also authorized to have your families on board."

And to this day nobody knows what Hughes might have had in mind to do with that airplane when he spent thousands of dollars to send an entire Connie crew, and their families, on what turned out to be an extended, all expenses paid vacation.
:shrug:

[xchrom]

10. i really miss pan am, twa etc --

the days before we were all cattle --