Seventy-five years after it was founded in Los Angeles, Trans World Airlines, Inc. announces Los Angeles will be the airline's second "focus city." TWA will partner with American Eagle to support the focus city with Trans World Connection regional service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and seven Southern California cities.

As part of its focus city expansion TWA is increasing non-stop service between Los Angeles and New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and will launch Southern California's only nonstop service to Washington National Airport (DCA).

A focus city is a location where TWA offers expanded service to a number of destinations. The schedule in the focus city is designed to complement TWA hub flights and provide options in cities that may be currently underserved.

"Our focus city schedule offers travelers to and from Southern California new choices and new competitive air services. Some of these - like our new LAX-DCA route - are exclusive to TWA," said Bill Compton, TWA's CEO and President. "TWA has been an important part of the airline landscape in Southern California since 1925 - longer than any other airline serving the region - and we intend to grow our service in this region in the months and years ahead."

Los Angeles was part of the launch of TWA's first focus city in San Juan, Puerto Rico, last November 1st.

At that time TWA began the only nonstop service between Los Angeles and San Juan. TWA added nonstop service between LA and Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii in May.     TWA this month increased the number of LAX-JFK non-stops from three to four per day and plans to add a fifth daily roundtrip later this year. In addition, TWA has added an eighth daily nonstop roundtrip between its St. Louis hub and Los Angeles. In St. Louis, passengers traveling to and from the Los Angeles area make quick and convenient connections to dozens of destinations in the Midwest, the South and the East. TWA expects to announce additional destinations from Los Angeles in the months ahead.

On September 10th, TWA plans to begin operation of the new daily LAX-DCA nonstop service. Earlier this month, TWA was awarded the exclusive right to fly this route. The route authority was authorized by Congress as part of last year's Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act for the 21st Century (AIR-21).

In addition to the new nonstop service, TWA offers seven daily departures from LAX with convenient St. Louis connections to DCA, and six daily DCA departures with direct service or convenient connections in St. Louis to LAX.

To help support this expanded service out of the new focus city, TWA will partner with American Eagle to add regional Trans World Connection^SM flights to TWA's schedule. By October 1st, 2000, TWA passengers will be able to book approximately 41 connecting flights through the LA focus city from seven California cities: Bakersfield, Fresno, Monterey, Palm Springs, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. American Eagle will operate 34-passenger Saab 340 aircraft on these routes. TWA's expanded first class cabins give more travelers the opportunity to enjoy first class comfort and service, and TWA's "First Up" fares make it affordable. For all flights connecting through the St. Louis hub, as well as for nonstop flights to San Juan and Kona, Los Angeles travelers can confirm first class seats when purchasing a full-fare coach ticket.

With a combined fleet of more than 275 jet and turboprop aircraft, American Eagle and its wholly owned Business Express Airlines affiliate offer more than 1,700 daily flights to 140 cities throughout the United States, Canada, The Bahamas and the Caribbean. American Eagle is wholly owned by AMR Corp., the parent company of American Airlines, and is American's regional airline associate.