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1998-2001 Dragon Models Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Recession
at the beginning at the beginning of the 1980s and the fall in airline bookings
hit Braniff hard on its expansion phase. As mounting losses, even in the face
of countermeasures including staff and route reductions and the sale of aircraft,
could not be reduced in 1981, Braniff ceased operations on May 12 1982 and
entered bankruptcy. The Hyatt Company bought the company out of bankruptcy,
recapitalised it, and within a couple of years there emerged a new Braniff
airline. It was constrained to US domestic services, using the Boeing 727
as its sole aircraft and employed about 2,200 people. We freeze this moment
in the history of this colorful air carrier by releasing the Boeing 727-200
in its refreshing all-blue livery. Sadly, the airline finally met its doom
on July 2 1992.
Nostalgia
for Braniff fans, a pleasure for us to bring it to you!
In
1928, brothers Paul and Tom Braniff began a service between Tulsa and Oklahoma
City with a Stinson Detroiter. With Paul as pilot and Tom as the financial brains,
they did not achieve great success and thus sold the service on. In 1930 however,
they set up Braniff Airways afresh and expanded strongly, as the postal service
granted some routes to the airline in 1931.
In
1937, Douglas DC-2s were introduced and these were supplemented from 1939 by
the modern DC-3s. In 1941, the headquarters and operating base of Braniff moved
to Dallas. Directly after the end of the second world war, the first flights
to Mexico were operated. On June 4 1948, the first Douglas DC-6 took off from
Houston via Havana to Lima, Peru. The name was then changed to Braniff International
Airways. Further destinations in South America were added so that nearly every
capital city had a service.
Domestically,
Braniff also expanded further through the purchase of Mid-Continent Airlines.
Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops were used to provide a Dallas-New York connection
in 1959. Braniff received its first Boeing jet - a 707 - for use on its South
American routes in December 1959, and in 1965 was the first US company to bring
the BAC One-elevens into service. In the same year, the airline also hit the
headlines with the introduction of its "flying colors" campaign.The aircraft
were painted in up to nine variations of the color scheme, the two most famous
being a Boeing 727 and a Douglas DC-8 decorated by artist Alexander Calder.
With the takeover of Pan American Grace Airways from Feb 1 1967, Braniff became
market leader in South American services. Along with the inherited traffic rights,
Braniff also inherited the DC-8s from PANAGRA. Following air traffic deregulation
in the USA, Braniff embarked on further expansion in 1978, this time to Europe,
where London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Frankfurt were served. The aircraft
received another new color scheme, still colorful, but not so garish. Further
expansion to Hawaii and Guam followed. All this necessitated a larger fleet,
and Boeing 747s, 747SPs and more Douglas DC-8s were bought or leased.
