Jetliners chart reducing course

Gone are the days when airlines sought to woo additional customers through their piano lounges and movies. Now they simply cannot afford to fly pianos and heavy motion picture projectors across the country.

Trans World Airlines is initiating a weight-reduction program that company officials hope will save the airline up to $1.5 million a year in fuel.

Lighter floor panels and carpeting, newly designed cargo-hold containners, and less paint on the plane's exterior may not be noticed by most passengers. But "Project Skinny" will also include lighter pillows and blankets and a cutback in such luxuries as motion pictures, heavier china, glasses, and silverware in first class, and even magazines.

"It costs money to carry anything," says a TWA spokesman. "Only one copy of a magazine per seat will save $343,000 this year."