P.M. BRIEFING : Fuel Costs to Bring TWA Layoffs

ST. LOUIS — Trans World Airlines, struggling with increasing fuel prices, is expected to issue layoff notices to as many as 500 employees across the country today.

TWA spokesman Donald Morrison said the layoffs will center on management and clerical employees and will not disrupt service.

“This whole thing is fuel-related,” Morrison said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with everything else that is going on.”

In the United States, TWA is paying more than 90 cents a gallon for jet fuel--roughly twice as much as before Iraq invaded Kuwait. More layoffs, and possibly flight reductions, could come later, Morrison said. The steadily shrinking TWA, which has its hub in St. Louis, has about 33,000 employees worldwide. The cuts are expected to affect about 100 of the roughly 8,000 workers in St. Louis.