Twa Is Carrying Some Heavy Baggage

It's hard to envy Trans World Airlines Inc. CEO Gerald L. Gitner. Even before he assumed the top job permanently on Feb. 12, after acting as chief since December, the airline's largest union was calling for his resignation. While every other major airline posted hefty profits in 1996, TWA lost $259 million on revenues of $3.6 billion. And on Mar. 25, TWA's auditors expressed doubts about the airline's ability to continue as a going concern.

Gitner, a longtime board member who retains his job as head of investment banking firm Avalon Group Ltd., acts as if it's no big deal: "It goes with the territory. Nobody ever said it was going to be easy." True enough, but Gitner, 51, may find the job even more daunting than did the three CEOs who have come and gone since a bankruptcy ended raider Carl Icahn's ownership in 1993.