ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250081
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ST. LOUIS
SOURCE: Associated Press
The chief executive of Trans World Airlines Inc. announced his resignation Thursday, hours after the airline posted a $14.3 million quarterly loss linked to the July explosion of a TWA jetliner.
Jeffrey H. Erickson, 51, who also is the airline's president, said he would step down in January.
Earlier in the day, TWA posted the third quarter loss, a period that included the July 17 crash of Flight 800, which killed all 230 people aboard.
``I have decided that it is time for me to move on,'' he said in a statement that made no direct mention of the crash or the financial loss, but which took credit for a financial recovery from bankruptcy proceedings.
Erickson was in London the day of the crash. He flew back the next day, but the airline was widely criticized for waiting 25 hours to release a list of passengers who were on the plane.
Management blamed the delay on difficulties reaching the families, but that did nothing to mollify New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who called TWA management ``abysmal and horrible.''
Hours before Flight 800 exploded, TWA reported a 400 percent gain in its second-quarter earnings, representing a big turnaround for an airline that has been in and out of bankruptcy court twice.
In announcing the third-quarter results Thursday, Erickson said: ``The events of the summer of 1996 have dealt us a setback. We will redouble our efforts through the remainder of this year and into 1997 to put our rebuilding effort back on track.''
Erickson said that advance and premium-fare bookings dropped after the crash. In addition, fuel during the quarter cost about 30 percent more than it did at the same time in 1995, and the cost of maintenance materials and repairs more than doubled.
Erickson came to TWA in April 1994 after serving as CEO of Reno Air, a young start-up based in Nevada. He previously worked at Pan Am, Midway and Continental.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB