Sadder Bud Wiser

Between the two major American-flag international airlines, the manifold woes of Pan American have captured most attention. But last week it became evident that Trans World Airlines is also in bad trouble. TWA announced that its losses have gone up, up and away: its deficit topped $88 million during the first five months of 1975--a record, and exactly double the loss during the same period a year ago. Simultaneously, President Forwood C. Wiser Jr.--nicknamed "Bud" by some associates and "Forward Charge" (because of his initials) by employees--quit, along with Marketing Vice President Blaine Cooke.

Neither man could fairly be blamed for all, or even most of TWA's problems, but both evidently suffered increasing frustration trying to deal with them. Caught without sufficient long-term fuel contracts, TWA has been forced to pay more than competitors United and American for kerosene to operate its fleet of 230 jets. Early this year, in a swap with Pan Am, TWA surrendered all of its Pacific routes in return for a handful of new routes to Southern Europe, two of which (to Nice and Barcelona) TWA has so far elected not to fly. Meanwhile, the recession has reduced the number of filled seats on the airline's flights so far this year to a disappointing 47%.

Morale Crisis. TWA's troubles began reaching the acute stage in November 1973, when 5,200 flight attendants struck, mainly for higher pay, and management stubbornly took a six-week walkout before signing a new contract for a 13.5% two-year wage and benefit increase. Ever since, the morale of flight attendants, a critical factor in marketing, has suffered, and TWA has never regained its prestrike share of the air-travel market. Lately, with Wiser in charge of operations, management has asked pilots, whose average salary is about $40,000 a year, to take a 10% pay cut, pointing out that top management has already reduced its own pay. Unpersuaded, the pilots have hired their own financial experts to analyze TWA's books and policies, and they have made it known that they believe the company needs a new management that would, among other things, deal less abrasively with unions.

Exhausted by months of wrestling with all these difficulties, Wiser, 54, caught the industry by surprise with his abrupt decision to quit. His resignation was accepted last week at a directors' meeting in Denver that he did not even attend; the company cited unspecified "personal considerations" for his leaving. According to company insiders, the exit of Cooke, 57, who has been in poor health recently, was exacerbated by internal criticism of a controversial advertising campaign featuring Actor Peter Sellers.

Chairman and Chief Executive Charles C. Tillinghast Jr. temporarily took over Wiser's role as president, but he is scheduled for retirement in January, when he will turn 65. Tillinghast will now almost certainly stay on for a while to bridge the transition to a new management. One pressing issue facing the next chief will be whether to take back the Pacific routes and thus become a global carrier again when the route swap with Pan Am expires within the next two years. Trans World seems likely to continue losing money this year, though its monthly deficits may be smaller. In hopes of bringing a fresh approach to bear on the airline's myriad problems, the board will probably go outside the company to find a replacement for Tillinghast.

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