TWA Trippers

Immediately on his return from the epochal flight to Paris in May 1927, a "group" of sky opportunists snapped up Charles Augustus Lindbergh, made him "technical adviser." By 1929 this group was Transcontinental Air Transport and had the world's No. 1 civil aviator fly part of its first coast-to-coast trip over the route he had charted. When its successor, Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc., was formed in 1930 it kept the slogan

''The Lindbergh Line" and added for good measure, "TWA First." For eight years nearly every page of the company's publicity has prominently mentioned "The Lindbergh Line" while in most of its 44 ticket offices the helmeted head of Colonel Lindbergh looked confidently skyward.

By common sense and Bureau of Air Commerce rulings all big three transcontinental airlines (United, American and TWA) share much alike in safety measures, leaving competition to comfort, equipment and fares. Claiming to be first on such things as coast-to-coast passenger service, transcontinental overnight service, and general deluxing, TWA last year turned its attention to fares, reduced them about 15%. So loud and prolonged was the outcry from United and American that after six months the three compromised on a middle rate between the new low and the old high--well justifying TWA's snort that "whatever the squawk, it costs less to travel from Newark to Chicago than it did a year ago, thanks to us." Last week TWA again set fire to the passenger fare structure, horrifying its rivals by suddenly introducing nationwide air "excursions" that for the first time put general airplane travel below most standard railroad and Pullman rates.

To obtain these fares passengers are required to begin their outward journeys from any point on either Saturday or Monday and return anytime, any ship, within 15 days. Examples: Round Trip Rail, Pullman TWA Columbus--New York $46.40 $45.15 Albuquerque--New York 166.00 163.95 New York--Los Angeles 226.50 224.92

In reckoning the rail cost, meals en route and tips at journey's end are not included, TWA carries passengers from Los Angeles to New York in 16 hours, provides free meals en route and no tips are necessary; by rail in standard trains the journey takes about 77 hours and generally requires some $10 extra for meals, $2 in tips.

Significance--. In 1933 TWA pioneered the single most successful civil aircraft in aviation's history--the Douglas DC-2, famed the world over for performance, beauty, reliability and now the stand-by of most big U. S. airlines. Next year, again months ahead of its competitors, TWA will take the skies with eight new Boeings--four-engined, high altitude airplanes that will seat 33, sleep 25 passengers. The problem confronting TWA is not drawing business from competitors but to obtain a new class of air travelers to fill the eight four-engined giants they will have in service in 1938.

Men of affairs whose time literally is money and the semisocial people who consider air travel modern and fashionable are already airline customers. Still securely anchored to earth are thousands of housewives, school teachers, foremen and clerks whom TWA now wants to make air-minded. Last year's six-month experiment with reduced fares which resulted in 100% increase in passengers and a 50% increase in revenue in the first two months convinced TWA that fare cuts serve this purpose.

Wholly unconvinced were TWA's bridling competitors, American and United. Quickly United's President William Allen Patterson issued a statement ". . . Our company does not see how the public can expect airlines to reduce fares while other forms of transportation are increasing them. . . . United is not satisfied that making a 15% reduction below the present round trip fares that are now allowed on all airlines, and making this reduction good on only two days a week, is the answer to the airlines problem, or of material benefit to the public."

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