TWA scarred by jumbo crash

TWA yesterday reported a third-quarter loss of $14.3m, or 40 cents a share, providing fresh evidence of the financial damage inflicted on the carrier as a result of the devastating crash of TWA 800 off Long Island three months ago. Wall Street had forecast a 58 cent-a-share gain for TWA.

The airline conceded it had suffered heavy cancellations and a fall-off in domestic reservations in the aftermath of the accident. Particularly damaging was a sudden decline in premium-price bookings by business travellers.

While the figure disappointed analysts, it was none the less an improvement on the $82m loss reported by the carrier in the same period in 1995.

TWA's quarterly loss stands in contrast with high earnings being reported by other American carriers. Delta, for example, yesterday unveiled its best ever third-quarter profits.

Yesterday also saw the Boeing Company reporting a 13 per cent climb in its third-quarter earnings compared with the same period a year earlier. Boeing, the world's largest commercial jet maker, said net income for the three months ending 30 September rose to $254m, compared with $225m in 1995.

Until the crash of its Paris-bound jumbo jet on 17 July, TWA had appeared well set towards financial recovery.

The company emerged from two successive bankruptcies in 1995 and in the same year began reporting its first profits for a decade. An ambitious plane-renewal programme was also initiated.

Adding to the carrier's problems today is the continuing uncertainty over the cause of Flight 800's accident. While investigators initially favoured criminal sabotage, the emphasis in recent weeks has shifted towards possible mechanical failure.

Meanwhile, the first lawsuit was filed this week against TWA and Boeing in relation to the crash.

The suit, filed on behalf of the family of a husband and wife who died in the accident, asserts that a spark from a fuel pump led to an explosion in the plane's centre fuel tank and claims damages from both the airline and Boeing, as the plane's manufacturer.