Abstract: Webs such as thermoplastics films are spliced together by electrostatic charges while moving at equal speeds. Particularly useful in the production of thermoplastics such as polyethylene terephthalate films and in a preferred embodiment facilitates the threading of the film after a malfunction, e.g., splitting in the stenter. The production web is fed to a dump while splicing and rethreading is effected by feeding a leader web through a subsequent stage of the apparatus, e.g., to a wind-up device. The leader web is fed into the wind-up at the same speed as the production web passing to dump and the webs are spliced together by electrostatic charges. The web passing to dump and the feed of the leader web are severed in that order.