TRANS WORLD AIRLINES (TWA) is to acquire 20 Pratt & Whitney-powered 757-200s - ten purchased from Boeing and ten leased from International Lease Finance - to replace its 14 Lockheed L-1011s and some Boeing 727s. The carrier will also hushkit 28 McDonnell Douglas (MDC) DC-9-30s, and is negotiating with MDC to acquire additional MD-80s to replace 727s.
The ten-aircraft order placed with Boeing will be financed by Boeing and P&W. The agreement also allows TWA "...to take options on as many as 20 additional aircraft", the airline says. P&W says that PW2037 engines for the 40 purchased, leased and optional 757s, plus the DC-9 hushkits, are potentially worth $420 million.
Three 757s will be delivered in 1996 and 12 in 1997, to replace the L-1011s, plus two more in 1998 and three in 1999, to replace 727s which will be retired when their leases expire. ABS hushkits will be fitted to the DC-9s during 1996 to enable TWA to meet Stage 3 fleet requirements, aided by the replacement of some 727s with additional MD-80s by the year's end.
TWA says, that the 757 is a "better-sized" aircraft, than the larger L-1011, which entered domestic service after TWA withdrew it from international routes. "We are replacing a three-engine, three-pilot aircraft with a two-engine, two-pilot aircraft," TWA says.
Delivery of ten Rolls-Royce-powered Airbus A330s was previously deferred to 1998, but the airline now says that the aircraft "...does not meet our performance criteria...it does not have the range we need". While discussions with Airbus continue, the carrier warns: "If the aircraft is not what we ordered, then we have a problem."
The statement caught Airbus by surprise. The company says that it has a firm contract for delivery of the aircraft and has had no discussions with TWA over the issue of range. "The aircraft meets its contractural guarantees," insists the European consortium.
Days after the 757 order, the airline reported an operating profit of $25 million in 1995, compared with a $279 million loss in 1994. Net losses narrowed to $227 million, from $435 million in 1994.
Source: Flight International
