lamotte cohu took over as president, and twa ordered 12 lockheed l-749 constellations on october 18, 1947. cohu was replaced by ralph damon in 1948. as president of american airlines (aal), damon was a proponent of aal being in the transatlantic market. damon approved the mergers of aal and american export in 1945 to form american overseas airlines (aoa). when c.r. smith sold aoa to pan american, damon became disillusioned with aal. as a consequence, hughes was able to hire damon to run twa. damon described air transportation as "a race between technology and bankruptcy." over the next 7 years, damon introduced practices within the industry which became standard, such as multi-class service with first class and economy class. damon also brought financial stability by eliminating the company deficit, which was reflected in the stock price rising into the 60s. carter l. burgess then took over in 1957, but lasted less than a year, unable to work with hughes' meddling.