Trans World Airlines was an American airline that existed from 1925 until it was bought out by and merged with American Airlines in 2001. It was a major domestic airline in the United States and the main U.S.-based competitor of Pan American World Airways on intercontinental routes from 1946 until deregulation in the late 1970s. TWA had hubs at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport for much of its history. Focus cities also existed at various times in Kansas City, Los Angeles, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. In the... 1980s it built up a hub in Atlanta, an operation which was reduced in the 1990s. Flying to most major U.S. cities, TWA was one of the largest domestic airlines; before deregulation TWA, American Airlines, United Airlines, and Eastern Air Lines were collectively known as the "Big Four". It also had a substantial feeder operation from smaller cities in the Midwestern United States. Beyond the U.S., TWA had a large European and Middle Eastern network, served mainly from its hub, the iconic TWA Flight Center, at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
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