TWA Skyliner Magazine, 1959-11-26

              PUBLISHED   BI-WEEKLY   FOR   TWA   EMPLOYEES
PROVING FLIGHT
PICTURES
See Pages Four & Five
VOL.   22,   NO.   24
NOVEMBER  26,   1959
October Traffic
Gains by 18.8%
New York—TWA has reported
the best October business in its history, with an increase of 23.7 percent in revenue passenger miles
flown on United States routes and
an overall increase of 18.8 percent
on system routes over October,
1958.
According to E. O. Cocke, senior
vice president and system general
manager, TWA flew a total of 463,-
400,000 revenue passenger miles
on its 50,000 miles of world routes
during the month. In the United
States the total was 406,300,000.
TWA's Boeing 707 jet flights,
serving 11 cities, accounted for 43
percent of the domestic mileage, or
174,400,000 revenue passenger
miles.
Chicago—Cargo flight 595
crashed and burned at Midway airport November 24
while attempting to return
to line field after reporting a
fire warning shortly after
takeoff. The accident occurred
at approximately 5:15 fi,m.
under fog and rain conditions. All three crew members—Captain Claude W. Hel-
wig, first officer Del E. Wat-
ters and flight engineer Aerion
L. Auge — were fatally injured. The flight which originated in New York and had
stopped enroute at Philadelphia, was bound for Los Angeles. The plane fell in a
residential area three blocks
from the airport, setting fire
to several homes. The home
of TWA mechanic George
Mahalov, a 27-year employee,
was in the path of the plane.
He was injured; his wife,
Elizabeth, a son, George, Jr.,
and daughter, Elizabeth, were
killed. George, Jr., worked
with TWA this past summer
as a cargo agent at Midway.
Biographies of the crew members, all Los Angeles-based,
are on Page Three.
Hostess  Reigns  As
Miss International
Bombay—TWA hostess Synee
Andree was named "Miss International" and Queen of the Day at
a reception of the International
Forum in Bombay November 21.
Miss Andree was presented the
award by Indian cabinet minister
S. K. Patil at a party attended by
several thousand persons.
The 21-year-old Swedish beauty
won over 27 other contestants representing nearly as many nationalities. In addition to the honor,
she received a wardrobe of fine
Indian silk, a radio, camera, free
trip to Lagos and a screen test. A
booth prepared by TWA's sales
promotion department was a prominent feature of the affair.
SIGNIFYING THE SWIFT FLIGHT in time between the New World and
the Old, President Charles S. Thomas cuts the ribbon officially inaugurating TWA 707 Intercontinental jet flights to Europe November 23. The
colorful costume of New York lead reservations agent Gordon Ray (right)
as a London Beefeater and the Bavarian dress of sales representative
Gunther Hillenmayer and teletype operator Dorothy Lueders lend a
festive air to the occasicn. The start of service at London and Frankfurt
will be followed with the addition of IntercorWfnental service fit Paris
and Rome on December 3.
Europe Previews
Intercontinental
London — The inauguration of
TWA's Boeing 707 Intercontinental
service between the United States
and Europe on Monday was preceded by a week-long FAA proving
flight for the big jetliner.
The Intercontinental's maiden
trans-Atlantic flight carried a party
of company officials and technicians
from the Federal Aviation Agency.
Their stringent inspection in the
"dress rehearsal" included confirmation of the ability of airports and
airways to adequately handle the
Intercontinental—largest jetliner in
the world. The flight also gave
TWA ground service personnel the
opportunity to be checked out for
actual operations.
TWA Okptain Gordon Grari$er,
director 6'jy flight operations research .and development, was in
command of the flight.
After a routine trans-Atlantic
crossing the Intercontinental made
trial runs from one city to another,
including Shannon, London, Frankfurt, Paris and Rome. The training/
inspection flight chalked up a commercial airline speed record between London and Rome of only
one hour 55 minutes.
The December 1 system
domestic timetable, as well
as the handy memo timetable, will be in effect until January 10, according
to Dale Ecton, supervisor
of direct mail distribution.
Night Coach Fare
Filed For KC Jet
New Yobk-TWA has filed with
the CAB for westbound night all-
coach fares between Kansas City
and Los Angelies on Boeing 707
flight 81. If-approved, the bargain
fares will be effective tomorrow,
November 27.
Flight 81 leaves Kansas City
at 10:00 p-% and arrives in Los
Angeles at 31:15 p.m. Under tfe.
proposed taHff a Golden Banner
coach fare o||t$72.75 would apply
for seating m the forward compartment and a low night coach
fare of $59.50 in the rear compartment. Both fares would be subject
to the $6.00 jet surcharge.
The special fare would apply
only on this one flight and not on
other equipment. It may be combined with other fares to and from
points beyond Kansas City and Los
Angeles.
To eliminate any possible misunderstanding by the public,
all interested persons should be advised that TWA's November
17th settlement of its labor dispute with its hostesses and
pursers eliminates any threat of strike both now and later.
Both parties have agreed to submit all open issues to a neutral
arbitrator for final and binding decision. The dispute is definitely ended.
London-Frankfurt Inaugural "Perfect"
Intercontinental Service
Begins on Festive Note
LONDON—Flight 700, inaugurating TWA 707 Intercontinental
jet service between New York and London and Frankfurt, touched
down at London Airport at 6:57 a.m. GMT. The elapsed flying
time across the Atlantic was 6 hours and 10 minutes—15 minutes
ahead of schedule. Captain Gordon Granger was at the controls.
The flight carried a total of 96 passengers and a crew of 10.
President Charles S. Thomas, who was among the passengers, reported the flight was perfect and praised the crew for an outstanding job.
New York—The hands of the clock were turned back briefly to
a scene of Old England and 19th Century Germany at New York's
Jet Age International Airport as colorful ceremonies marked the
start of TWA Intercontinental jet service to London and Frankfurt November 23.
Dressed in the costume of a London "Beefeater" and the leder-
hosen of German country-folk, TWA personnel joined President
Charles S. Thomas in officially extending TWA's jet routes across
the Atlantic.
The costumes, refreshments and entire entourage all were calculated to accent the swift speed and comfort with which TWA's
jetliners now transport travelers between the New World and Old.
Gordon Ray, lead reservations For the inaugural party, one sec-
agent in New York, presented a    tion of the lounge was decorated
splendid figure in the scarlet garb
of the royal .guard. Teletype operator Dorothy Lueders of the district
sales office and sales representative
Gunther Hillenmayer were dressed
in Bavarian costume. They were assisted by Gretchen Dahm, "Miss
TWA 707 Intercontinental." She
acted as hostess for the hundreds
of guests and well-wishers attending a pre-flight reception in -the
spacious passenger lounge of TWA's
new temporary quarters at Idle-
wild.
The lounge and ticket counter
facilities were recently acquired by
TWA for use until work on the
permanent "furturistic" terminal is
completed. The Intercontinental
send-off marked the first public use
of the new passenger service area.
Until now, to expedite handling,
TWA has used a separate ticket
counter to serve jet passengers.
with an English motif and the other
German. At one table guests were
offered English ale and at the
other, German beer. Credit for giving international flavor to the occasion was given district sales promotion manager Joe Leddy.
For the guests on Flight 700,
the ceremony at Idlewild was just
a taste of tilings to come. Six hours
and 10 minutes later they were
greeted in London by British and
American officials and hustled off
for a special tour of the Houses of
Parliament and Westminster Abbey.
The group, mcluding noted news
correspondents and dignitaries, continued on to Frankfurt this morning, where they were received by
German officials. They then motored to Stuttgart for a tour of the
Mercedes automobile plant.
(Continued on Page Four)
KEY OFFICIALS OF TWA and Convair meet at Kansas City to go over
plans for integrating the Convair 880 into TWA's jet fleet. Conferring
around the table are (clockwise, left to right) J. J. Alkazin, L. J. Bordelon,
and W. W. Fox, all of Convair; N. R. Parmet, TWA director of aircraft
development; Al Jordon, assistant vice president-maintenance and overhaul; Ray Dunn, vice president of technical services; Sam Higginbottom,
assistant vice president of engineering, flight test and inspection; B. F.
Coggan, vice president and manager for Convair; and three other Convair officials: T. S. Sullivan, B. J. Simons and O. W. Harper.