The Feb. 1 Business section article on the bankruptcy announcement by TWA came as no surprise to industry observers. Neither did the assessment by many analysts who question the viability of TWA`s survival given its debt burden to cover Carl Icahn`s buy-out.
In addition to the carrier`s money woes, the article advised about the plight of Chairman Icahn, who seems to feel ill-served by TWA`s position. It is interesting to see how Icahn turned his company around and propelled it to the frontiers of global commerce.
Let`s see, there was his clever establishment of the St. Louis hub, his failure to build a balanced domestic route structure, and not to forget, the recent fire sale of assets. There`s a shrewd long term strategy for success.
Mr. Icahn allows that TWA was ”the worst investment I made in the last decade.” Probably many passengers, stockholders and employees consider the converse true to a much higher degree.
