What would it be like if we brought back TWA and PanAm?

Question

considering TWA has been defunct since 2001 and PanAm since 1991...

if we brought them back, do you think it would give American Airlines and United a run for their money?

Answer 1

I doubt that anything would change. Remember, there were good reasons why these airlines failed.

There are many reasons why reviving these two would not matter.

1. One of the main reasons that airlines perennially lose loads of money is that there are too many airlines and too many seats. That forces airlines sell seats below cost to fill up planes. Adding more airlines will simply make the problem worse and likely drive more airlines out of business.

2. Despite all of the fond memories that people have of Pan Am, it was actually a lousy airline at the time that it went out of business. It had been an industry pioneer and was once a great airline, but its glory days were decades in the past by 1991.

At the time of its demise, many of the aircraft were old and not maintained well. The service was lousy. (I flew them a few times, so I saw it first hand.) I was a travel agent at the time and almost any other airline was more helpful in an emergency than they were. They had sold off their Atlantic and Pacific routes to raise cash. When it finally died, it was a mercy killing.

Actually, Pan Am has been revived twice since it's first shutdown in 1991. Both failed and shut down again. There's no reason to believe that a third time would work any better.

3. Similarly, Carl Icahn had run TWA into the ground. The aircraft became old and run down, the employees were demoralized from pay cuts and bad management, and most of the international routes were abandoned or sold off for cash. By the time that Icahn was out of the picture, it was beyond saving.

4. New competition will not bring change. Passengers have made it clear that price is all that matters. If airline A is $20 cheaper than airline B but has terrible service, passengers will happily switch to airline A and then whine about the terrible experience. Service will not improve until passengers are willing to pay for it.

Many new airlines have started up since 1991 and the industry decline has continued. Legend Airlines provided an all-first class service and quickly went out of business. Midwest provided excellent service with larger seats at economy class prices. They were forced to add regular economy seats and lower prices. JetBlue provides a better product than any of the legacy carriers, yet the legacy carriers have continued to cut service and add nuisance fees.

Service will improve only when travelers demand it and are willing to pay for it. Airlines cannot offer $150 fares, free meals, inflight entertainment systems, and stay in business. The traveling public needs to decide what's important to them and right now it wants cheap fares.

Answer 2

I do think it would cause problems for some of the other airlines.  In reality; it would benefit out country and give us more tranportation.  I've only flown Airtran Airways.  A lot of people seem to fly the "lower cost" airlines, just to be cheap.  Now that the gas prices are so high; more money would be spent if those two airlines came back.