airline deregulation hit twa hard in the 1980s. twa had badly neglected domestic u.s. expansion at a time when the newly deregulated domestic market was growing quickly. twa's holding company, trans world corporation, spun off the airline, which then became starved for capital. the airline briefly considered selling itself to renowned corporate raider frank lorenzo in the 1980s, but ended up selling to yet another corporate raider, carl icahn, in 1985. under icahn's direction, many of its most profitable assets were sold to competitors, much to the detriment of twa. icahn was eventually ousted in 1993, though not before the airline was forced to file for bankruptcy on january 31, 1992.