I just ran across a thread on Airliners.net called... "Crabby NWA F/A's" It kind of turned into a TWA lovefest, and it kind of made my day. I've posted some of the comments below....
â€All I can add is this: I flew TWA a whole lot when it was just in the depths of dispair financially, although it was getting flush with great new equipment, the employees were constantly on edge as to their futures. On flight after flight after flight, these professionals, from the ticket counter to the gate to (and particularly) the onboard folks, went out of their ways to try to win over one passenger at a time, every flight, every day. It was incredible, and they set a shining example for how to do it. Had 9/11 not happened, they'd still be doing it for AA.â€
another...
“Interesting you should say this. My wife and I flew TWA quite a bit back in the mid-1990s as a mandate by my company. I don't recall much about coach service, but in first class they waited on you hand and foot. It's the best F/C service I've ever experienced. One particular flight I was going from SFO to STL, and I decided I'd like some wine. It was going down well, and the flight attendant never let me see the bottom of the glass. As the initial approach announcement was made into STL, the F/A asked me if I'd like the last swallow that was left in the bottle he had. I of course said yes, and he informed me that I had successfully downed an entire bottle of wine on the flight, as I was the only one drinking out it! Excellent flight, and ten years later that memory sticks with me.
Another time I held a full-fare ticket on United CID-BDL but learned from my colleagues once I got to Cedar Rapids that TWA would put you in first class for the price of a full coach ticket. I quickly got on the phone and made the switch for my trip home to Hartford via STL. Well, the CID-STL leg boarded on time but was delayed by about 90 minutes on the ground due to storms in St. Louis. The first class cabin was having a whopping good time, and the F/A came by eventually to tell us that we'd drunk the airplane dry and all that was left was champagne - this before leaving the ground at CID. No problem - the cork came off the champagne bottles and the party continued. On the STL-BDL leg, my seatmate turned out to be a friend of a friend, and we struck up an instant conversation. And we both liked wine. The F/A finally just handed us the entire bottle to share. There was still some left when we landed, so he corked and gave it to me take
home.â€
Another from a Southwest f/a...
"As a nod to TWA I recently flew two separate trips with two women from TWA....WHAT professionals! They were very service oriented and very nice to the pax. Nothing got them in a tangle and we all had fun! Even when the pax were surly we still managed to keep each other upbeat, it was a great few days with them. I never got to fly TWA but we have a TON of ex-TWA folks here at WN and I see what everyone has been saying about their personalities. GOLDEN!â€
Another...
"That makes me SO happy to hear...I can remember specific TWA flight attendants literally from years ago, not by name but I would recognize them if I saw them again. (Or in one case, heard him again, because one lead f/a was like an Opera singer or something and had the deepest, most mellifluous voice with a slight English tint and he made announcements so clearly that they were superior to a professional, pre-recorded announcement. I must have had him 4 or 5 times, and always knew when I did.) Can't say that about any other carrier. That's the kind of impression that some made.
I read recently that NOT A SINGLE TWA F/A still works at AA, because of the Union-screwing they received as a result of the "stapling" of seniority lists. And it is AA's loss in the most enormous way. They had a chance actually to improve their service, and missed it.
So I am glad that many TWA folks landed at the country's most successful carrier, one that appreciates and rewards great personalities. That really assuages some of my sadness at what happened to at least some of the TWA folks that I liked so much.â€
another...
“furthering the TWA comments-- one of my last jetBlue flights had 2 ex-TWA flight attendants on it and they were absolutely FANTASTIC. Probably the best example of in-flight service I have ever witnessed. I think one of them was named Evelyn. Just great!â€
â€All I can add is this: I flew TWA a whole lot when it was just in the depths of dispair financially, although it was getting flush with great new equipment, the employees were constantly on edge as to their futures. On flight after flight after flight, these professionals, from the ticket counter to the gate to (and particularly) the onboard folks, went out of their ways to try to win over one passenger at a time, every flight, every day. It was incredible, and they set a shining example for how to do it. Had 9/11 not happened, they'd still be doing it for AA.â€
another...
“Interesting you should say this. My wife and I flew TWA quite a bit back in the mid-1990s as a mandate by my company. I don't recall much about coach service, but in first class they waited on you hand and foot. It's the best F/C service I've ever experienced. One particular flight I was going from SFO to STL, and I decided I'd like some wine. It was going down well, and the flight attendant never let me see the bottom of the glass. As the initial approach announcement was made into STL, the F/A asked me if I'd like the last swallow that was left in the bottle he had. I of course said yes, and he informed me that I had successfully downed an entire bottle of wine on the flight, as I was the only one drinking out it! Excellent flight, and ten years later that memory sticks with me.
Another time I held a full-fare ticket on United CID-BDL but learned from my colleagues once I got to Cedar Rapids that TWA would put you in first class for the price of a full coach ticket. I quickly got on the phone and made the switch for my trip home to Hartford via STL. Well, the CID-STL leg boarded on time but was delayed by about 90 minutes on the ground due to storms in St. Louis. The first class cabin was having a whopping good time, and the F/A came by eventually to tell us that we'd drunk the airplane dry and all that was left was champagne - this before leaving the ground at CID. No problem - the cork came off the champagne bottles and the party continued. On the STL-BDL leg, my seatmate turned out to be a friend of a friend, and we struck up an instant conversation. And we both liked wine. The F/A finally just handed us the entire bottle to share. There was still some left when we landed, so he corked and gave it to me take
home.â€
Another from a Southwest f/a...
"As a nod to TWA I recently flew two separate trips with two women from TWA....WHAT professionals! They were very service oriented and very nice to the pax. Nothing got them in a tangle and we all had fun! Even when the pax were surly we still managed to keep each other upbeat, it was a great few days with them. I never got to fly TWA but we have a TON of ex-TWA folks here at WN and I see what everyone has been saying about their personalities. GOLDEN!â€
Another...
"That makes me SO happy to hear...I can remember specific TWA flight attendants literally from years ago, not by name but I would recognize them if I saw them again. (Or in one case, heard him again, because one lead f/a was like an Opera singer or something and had the deepest, most mellifluous voice with a slight English tint and he made announcements so clearly that they were superior to a professional, pre-recorded announcement. I must have had him 4 or 5 times, and always knew when I did.) Can't say that about any other carrier. That's the kind of impression that some made.
I read recently that NOT A SINGLE TWA F/A still works at AA, because of the Union-screwing they received as a result of the "stapling" of seniority lists. And it is AA's loss in the most enormous way. They had a chance actually to improve their service, and missed it.
So I am glad that many TWA folks landed at the country's most successful carrier, one that appreciates and rewards great personalities. That really assuages some of my sadness at what happened to at least some of the TWA folks that I liked so much.â€
another...
“furthering the TWA comments-- one of my last jetBlue flights had 2 ex-TWA flight attendants on it and they were absolutely FANTASTIC. Probably the best example of in-flight service I have ever witnessed. I think one of them was named Evelyn. Just great!â€
