Does anyone remember the airline Braniff International?

The Flight Detective
a red and white airplane on a runway

Braniff International was an airline founded at the end of the 1920s by brothers Paul and Tom Braniff. Originally flying from Oklahoma to Tulsa, it eventually based itself in Dallas and flew all over the United States.

Remarkably, the airline became the only American carrier to fly the supersonic Concorde, using them for flights from Washington DC to Dallas Fort Worth during 1979 and 1980. Noted for having one of the most beautiful aircraft liveries in the world, the airline eventually ceased operations on 12 May 1982.

Braniff International Video

Following on from the last video about American Trans Air or ATA Airlines, this time around we have a look at what happened to Braniff. This is a short video, running for just under seven minutes.

This focusses mainly on how the airline ended up going bankrupt. Deregulation of the US airline industry in 1978 saw Braniff International expand rapidly to gain market share, even going international.

Competition from other airlines with bases at DFW, coupled with the 1979 oil crisis and subsequent recession from 1980 put huge pressure on the operation. Finances were in tatters and despite trying, they were unable to get ahead.

The video really gives a very high level overview of what went wrong, but a longer history is available on Wikipedia. Their marketing and branding is legendary in the aviation industry.

Overall Thoughts

It is a shame to see such a storied airline such as Braniff International have to close, but that’s business. The leaders of this airline made the wrong decisions at the wrong time and paid for it.

There are some glorious photographs here and that page has links at the bottom that may be interesting. It was certainly a colourful airline at various stages, that’s for sure! Big fans of the airline can also buy branded merchandise in the Braniff Boutique, it seems.

Did you ever fly with Braniff International? What were they like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image via the Braniff Airways Foundation.

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Kimberly Ridlehuber-Santulli

My mom was a ticket agent for 30 years with Braniff and it was such a WONDERFUL era, and I was lucky enough to have experienced what a lot of my classmates didn’t. I never flew coach until I got married in 1987 and it was a shock to have to do that. Braniff was my mother’s whole existence and purpose in life. She was especially devastated when they went under and it affected our family emotionally and financially. However, every time they resurrected and renamed themselves, she went back and stayed until the very last day. I feel so… Read more »

Ghostrider5408

Braniff was my first airline to grant me access to their private lounges, I flew them regularly especially the “Super Carrot” to HNL. Oh those blue velvet first class seats and food service was incredible.

Robb

Yes I remember Braniff. Flown aboard Braniff many times in First Class. Flew their 707, 727, and BAC 1-11. Very colorful airline. Great inflight experience. Food was a stand out. Stewardesses wore clear “space helmets” during rainy weather. Sad when it ceased flying

Last edited 1 year ago by Robb
ChuckMO

Flew them DAL-MEX-ACA-DAL when I was 4 in 1969. I don’t remember anything about the flights but as we were non-revving, we stopped in MEX for a few days and then flew BN MEX-ACA, a Mexican domestic sector. Apparently that was allowed as BN didn’t technically sell the domestic sector as it was part of a stop-over itinerary. I have no idea if that is still allowed, or if any airlines operate domestic tags in other countries these days.

Scott

Nice video, but it didn’t mention the dirty tricks pulled on Braniff by some, such as American Airlines, during its final days that helped shove Braniff over the cliff. These dirty tricks included asking Braniff to hold seats for American connecting passengers who never appeared because they didn’t actually exist (which meant Braniff flights went out with more empty seats than expected), and also hanging on to claims for passenger-fare payment until a large enough dollar amount had accumulated to make it very painful for Braniff to pay American.

Scott

Thank you. My experience growing up was quite similar to those expressed by Kimberly in her post above. My mother worked in reservations and as a ticket agent for Braniff from 1957 until it went bankrupt, and then once again with its first resurrection. The reports of the dirty tricks that I mentioned in my post played by American Airlines on Braniff came directly from my mother’s personal experiences during those final months of Braniff. She also told me that at that time American Airlines actually had a special “Dirty Tricks” department to do these foul, unethical things. To this… Read more »

Last edited 1 year ago by Scott
derek

My Dad flew them as a passenger once and brought home a piece of Braniff bar soap. The lavatories didn’t use liquid soap in those days. I later flew aboard a different Braniff, the one with a Kansas City hub around 1986.

derek

For awhile, I had an airline soap collection but it was just Braniff, TWA, Japan Air Lines and an unidentified bar with a red label and no print.

Mateo

I work at AA. I worked with a guy who worked for Braniff. He said that there were pilots and flight attendants who didn’t cash their last 2-3 paychecks. The company filed for bankruptcy and then those FAs and Pilots became creditors.

My advice, always cash your check as soon as you get it.

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