TWA died because of Karl Icahn. The Caribou ticket deal was done in 01. They had a choice, die sooner or take a chance and renew their fleet. They purchased a bunch of 717s and MD-80s to bring the age of the fleet down and create a new image. Because Icahn sold all of the company's assets off to himself he basically destroyed any capital that TWA had. As a result their lease rates sucked.

As far as STL, I don't think this was as much of a disadvantage as everybody thinks. While places like ORD were snarled with delays we had it pretty easy down here because only one airline was hubbed here.

TWA's customer service numbers were high, their on-time numbers were good too. I think it was just a matter of too little, too late.