TWA Loss Triples in Quarter; Recession and Gulf War Cited

Trans World Airlines, one of the nation’s most troubled carriers, said Friday that its third-quarter loss more than tripled, a result of the recession and Gulf War aftermath.

TWA said it lost $51.3 million on revenue of $1.01 billion, compared to a loss of $14.7 million on revenue of $1.34 billion for the same period in 1990.

For the first nine months of the year, TWA reported a gain of $197.5 million, mostly because it sold $676.6 million in assets, including choice routes into London’s Heathrow Airport that went to American Airlines.

TWA also was able to write off some of its debt and make accounting changes that contributed to the gain.

TWA showed an operating loss of $257.7 million for the nine-month period on revenue of $2.75 billion.

For the first nine months of 1990, TWA lost $54.3 million on revenue of $3.59 billion.

It said the latest loss was explained by “the unprecedented reduction in airline traffic and related passenger yields arising from the effect of the Persian Gulf War and the economic recession, along with the short-term impact of reallocating TWA’s fleet from the London routes to other markets as a result of the sale of the Heathrow routes.”

TWA plans to enter and quickly emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early next year under an arrangement with its creditors. Chairman Carl C. Icahn said the carrier is taking steps to solve its problems.

“With our initiatives to attract the price-sensitive business flier, we have positioned TWA to benefit substantially as traffic picks up with the level of economic activity,” Icahn said.

Icahn predicted that TWA can be “a formidable competitor in 1992 and beyond.”