Airways Magazine May 2022

I was six years old when Braniff ceased operations in 1982. I first saw the airline’s name in the now long-gone Solari flight displays in Caracas Simón Bolívar International Airport, where Girard’s Bluebird logo appeared every time the displays flapped. Years later, I bought the Airways Classics Volume 5 from our late Editor in Chief John Wegg, which featured Braniff in great detail. The airline’s innovation and ingenuity transformed it into a cultural icon. With names such as Girard, Pucci, and Calder plying their creativity, this was an airline that envisioned a future around supersonic travel that differed greatly from what air travel was—or, in the end, would be. Braniff ceased operations 40 years ago. With this issue, it’s our pleasure to remember the colorful airline, and we are grateful for the…

ON THE COVER Braniff International revolutionized the way airlines could look, dress and live in the popular imagination. PHOTOS LIVESEY-PROCTOR COLLECTION. COPYRIGHT BRANIFF AIRWAYS, INCORPORATED; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DESIGN MARIANA QUINTERO SOCIAL MEDIA airwaysmag 1,008 likes We chose to highlight the awesome Alaska Airlines ‘Starliner 75’ Aircraft. Of course, this shot also features a beautiful backdrop! PHOTO: Brandon Farris (@brandon_farris_photography) OUR MOST VIEWED VIDEO For more information on all the stories covered visit airwaysmag.com or check out social media to stay up to date. Airways is now on YouTube. Be sure to subscribe and get the latest news and our Weekly AvFix.…

OKLAHOMA WAS THE PLACE to be for an ambitious young man in the 1920s. Oil was the reason. The young state was the source of fortunes in petroleum and Thomas Elmer (Tom) Braniff was there, in Oklahoma City, selling insurance. His younger brother, Paul, had fallen in love with flying and received his pilot’s license from none other than Orville Wright himself. Paul realized that ‘time was money’ to the businessmen of Oklahoma City so, on June 20, 1928 – with the help of Tom – he established Paul R. Braniff, Inc. to provide air transportation between Oklahoma City and Tulsa. On February 11, 1929, Paul R. Braniff, Inc. added service to Dallas via Wichita Falls, Texas. Then, in April of that year, the Braniff brothers sold the company – now referred…

BIG THINGS WERE IN STORE for the Dallas-based airline at the end of World War II. In 1946, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) awarded Braniff a 7,719-mile route extension from Houston across the Gulf of Mexico to Havana, Cuba, and beyond to several cities in South America. Braniff’s route award would place it in direct competition with politically connected Pan American Airways and its associate carrier, Pan American-Grace Airways (PANAGRA). Braniff was left to its own devices to prepare for the inauguration of service. To quote the airline’s self-published company history: “Before service could begin, Braniff had to build its own system of navigation and communications facilities across the ocean, jungle and mountains.” Difficulty in finalizing bilateral treaties with the countries involved contributed to the delay in starting service to South…

WITH ITS NEW TURBOJET 707s and turboprop L-188 Electras, Braniff was heading into the future shoulder-to-shoulder with the other trunk airlines in the United States. But despite employing the latest in medium- and long-range aircraft over a route system that stretched from Minot to Buenos Aires, spanning two continents, Braniff had its share of issues to deal with. For one thing, the airline operated a greater percentage of domestic flights in short-haul markets (under 250 miles) than any other trunk carrier. Braniff also suffered a passenger load factor below the average for US trunk airlines and it was still trying to shed some of its least-productive stations. Texarkana, Texas/Arkansas boarded only 1,221 passengers during all of 1959, while the next lowest-producing city, Chattanooga, Tennessee, enplaned only 3,554, or fewer than 10…

THAT NOVEMBER, officials of Braniff International Airways, including President Charles E. (Chuck) Beard and R. V. Carleton, Vice President of Operations, were in Seattle to try out the new jet, boarding the Dash 80 for a series of flights over Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains. Pan American World Airways became the launch customer for the Boeing 707, the Dash 80’s commercial production version, in October 1955 with an order for 20. Most US domestic airlines hesitated. They were undecided on the economics of turboprops versus turbojets. But, in November, American Airlines announced an order for 30 for delivery from June 1959. On Friday, October 28, 1955, Braniff leapt in too. At their regular quarterly meeting in Oklahoma City, the Board of Directors authorized a new aircraft acquisition program valued at US$67…