Back in the Black

The readiness of U.S. airlines to anticipate spending huge sums for the supersonics, after all they went through with jets, is one evidence of a general renewal of health in the airline business. The eleven U.S. trunk lines ran into heavy financial trouble in 1961-62 because of the high costs of the new jets and the disappointingly low number of new passengers, but they have earned $27 million in 1963's first eight months, v. a $10 million loss for the year-ago period.

All of the big four lines are now in good shape, and of the four none has greater reason to cheer than TWA. After losing $20 million in two years, the line has climbed back into the black, and this year expects to earn $10 million or more. President Tillinghast, 52, is so confident of TWA's good health that last week he broke off the merger agreement made with Pan American last December, when TWA's plight was still perilous.

An imperturbable New Englander and onetime assistant Manhattan district attorney under Thomas Dewey, Tillinghast took over TWA in 1961 after Industrialist Howard Hughes was forced by the airline's lenders to put his 78.2% ownership of TWA in trust. When Hughes began sniping at the new administration, Tillinghast tied him into legal knots with an antitrust suit. He arranged additional financing for more jets, flew the line constantly to check on service, and shifted TWA's image from that of a tourist's to a businessman's airline.

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