How Braniff Went Bust: The Collapse Of The Fastest-Growing Airline In America

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  • čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
  • The very simplified story of Braniff International Airways' downfall. There are MANY factors involved in Braniff's fall from grace. This video focuses on a few points relevant to the big picture (including American Airline's sabotage)
    Braniff Airways was first launched around 1926 by Paul Braniff. After a few retries, the airline became profitable and begun expanding. Throughout the 30's and into the 70's, Braniff became the fastest growing airline in the country. Prior to Airline Deregulation, they were well known for their exceptional onboard service and their route network.
    Once deregulation was enacted, Harding Lawrence, the president of Braniff, decided to respond to deregulation by rapidly expanding Braniff's influence. While the expansion was initially successful, unpredicted competition from other airlines, increased fuel costs, and economic unrest caused Braniff to lose millions.
    The company went through a few changes in management, but many factors including pilot strikes, few passengers, declining value of service, and many others lead the airline to cease operations in 1982.
    IATA Code: BN
    IACO Code: BNF
    Callsign: "Braniff"
    Years Active: 1930 - 1982, 1984 - 1990, 1991 - 1992
    Headquarters: Dallas, TX
    Primary Hub: Dallas (DFW)
    Fate: Ceased operations after mounting losses. Subsidiaries still in operation.
    Like and subscribe for more videos!
    Instagram: @avgeek_747
    DISCLAIMER
    This video is made solely for education/entertainment purposes. No copyright infringement is intended. If you are the owner of any of the copyrighted pictures/clips used in the video and would like them removed, please contact me at realdabomb21@gmail.com . Please see document link provided below for a full list of media sources.
    Video Citations:
    Plane spotting clips credit to PDX Aviation
    • American Airlines N655...
    • Southwest Airlines (He...
    • American Airlines MD-8...
    • Sun Country Airlines 7...
    Stock clips provided free by FreeStockVids.com.
    See previews at / freestockvids
    Video provided by No Copyright Videos - Free
    / @r3forex
    List Of Citations:
    Images are licensed under Creative Commons and/or GDFL. See linked document for further information about authors and image links:
    docs.google.co...

Komentáře • 284

  • @andrewsaviation7792
    @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety +18

    Comment your Braniff experiences and which airlines you'd like to see next down below!
    *CORRECTIONS BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION*
    - My wording made it sound like Delta Airlines was based in Dallas, instead of had a base/hub in "Dallas" at the time
    Also, see the description for some more information about the airline/citations.

    • @jimxavcal
      @jimxavcal Před 3 lety +1

      Can you do a mini documentary on Private Jet Expeditions/ National Airlines?
      .

    • @LotusFlyer
      @LotusFlyer Před 3 lety +7

      how about we go international? the fall of once biggest airline in africa; Sudan Airways

    • @omermakki4320
      @omermakki4320 Před 3 lety +2

      @@LotusFlyer yesssssss

    • @ombmm9408
      @ombmm9408 Před 3 lety +2

      @@LotusFlyer i remember that airline, had pretty good services too ill miss their large fleet

    • @DatamasterCorporation
      @DatamasterCorporation Před 3 lety +2

      I would like to see one on Valujet, from start to end, because their history as Airtran seems to be never mentioned.

  • @jimharris6213
    @jimharris6213 Před 3 lety +23

    Braniff had one of the best liveries with the pin-striped design. I flew them once between Omaha and Tulsa through Kansas City.

  • @KCFlyer2
    @KCFlyer2 Před 3 lety +51

    "Splash of Colors" is an excellent book about Braniff's downfall. It was written by John Nance, who was a former pilot. From the book - Harding Lawrence felt that deregulation would fail and there would be a small window of opportunity before they were reregulated. That's why they expanded so quickly - if they already had the routes, they could be "grandfathered" for future growth. It didn't work out that way. AA played a huge role in their demise....several examples are outlined in the book. But Andrew, you did a pretty good job of covering basically what happened to them.

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety +3

      Thank you! I tried to keep this video very simple, to get the basic general idea, especially since many like yourself are familiar with "Splash of Colors"

    • @donnafromnyc
      @donnafromnyc Před rokem +3

      'Splash of Colors' was a helluva book. I was working for New York Air when it came out and I was in tears by the end. It didn't help that their CFO, Ted Beckwith, who knew all the byzantine financing of BI was fired by Casey in 1981 then wound up murdered in an East Texas cornfield 18 months later--a crime which remains unsolved. Nance went on to a substantial post-aviation career as a writer and opiner on airline safety (Air Disasters).

    • @wayback75
      @wayback75 Před rokem +1

      ​@@donnafromnyc I used to work for Braniff back then, to bad about Ted , I was told it was a hit job as he knew many people with skeletons in the closet.

    • @wayback75
      @wayback75 Před rokem +1

      I still have my copy of "Splash of Colors " , the first print and your right about American Airlines role. Since Braniff and American reservations were using the same system, Sabre,
      American went and loaded or booked Braniff flights with fictitious names of passengers. At that time, I was told that American was also in financial trouble and banks only had enough money to bail out one of them and American got the loan. I feel there was some politics involved here.

    • @donnafromnyc
      @donnafromnyc Před rokem

      @@wayback75 Bob Crandall was crafty that way, would you agree?

  • @davidhood2200
    @davidhood2200 Před 3 lety +11

    Grandfather was a 727 Flight Engineer and First Officer for Braniff until he was furloughed in 1981. I even have a couple of his old 727 operating handbooks and his flight engineers diagram for the 727

  • @RTS222
    @RTS222 Před 3 lety +9

    For those who quote "Splash of Colors" by John Nance, remember the full title of his book includes "the self destruction of Braniff International". Can't blame American for all of the bad decisions made by Harding Lawerence that led to the downfall of Flying Colors. There was no "crowd funding" per se towards the end, but a concentrated effort by civic and business leaders to encourage Texans to fly Texas Class on Braniff. When Howard Putnam arrived in 1981, the company had just about run out of working capital and lenders wouldn't advance a single dime. The Latin American Division was not sold, but leased to Eastern for a five year period and then would revert to Braniff. While Putnam and thousands of BN employees gave it their best shot, it just wasn't meant to be.

  • @williamhaynes7089
    @williamhaynes7089 Před 3 lety +17

    End of the south park episodes... that is all most people ever see of the logo anymore

  • @robm3074
    @robm3074 Před 3 lety +13

    Andrew....spot on. BN is close to my heart. Check Splash of Colors. Great reading.

    • @donnafromnyc
      @donnafromnyc Před 3 lety

      A great book, written by tbe multitalented John Nance who flew for them (I believe as F/O).

  • @aston-martin-internationalist

    Not too many have heard of Braniff in the UK, although I definitely have, I visited the little aviation museum at Love Field a few years ago and saw a few Braniff things there and was reminded that there was interest in Braniff to purchase Concorde. I live 30 miles from where Concorde did many of its test flights (Filton near Bristol) - they now have a de-commissioned Concorde in a new museum there, I've also been on the original Concorde test mule 002 which resides 15 minutes from my house at the Yeovilton airbase.
    Great video - now subscribed.

  • @devonnewest7990
    @devonnewest7990 Před 3 lety +10

    idk know if this channel is new but I'm so glad I found it, excellent aviation enthusiast channel & love that you explore subjects like where iconic airlines disappeared to. Not your typical subject lines of other channels. Love your voice to, I could listen to you all day! Wishing great success with this channel, you deserve many subs and likes!

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety

      Thank you very much for your wonderful support! I'm so glad to hear that you enjoy my little corner of YT. Cheers!

  • @jamiecloud1897
    @jamiecloud1897 Před 3 lety +4

    I used to fly Braniff back-and-forth between DC and Dallas, as I went to school at SMU. It was an absolutely dreamy air carrier. The leather seats were the bomb. Was so sad to see it go. Keep up great work, Andrew! It's neat to see you getting more and more subscribers as time goes on - from one of your earliest fans......

  • @Dana_Danarosana
    @Dana_Danarosana Před 3 lety +9

    I never flew on them but they sure did expand fast. I remember as a kid in the late 70s/early 80s seeing more and more of that cool randomly colored fleet everytime I got to fly.

  • @resdupbug
    @resdupbug Před 3 lety +3

    I lived in Quito, Ecuador and the bright colors of Braniff airplanes is a memory I cherish. Traveling to Miami to visit Disney world was almost obligatory. Great content, thank you!!! Subscribed

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety +1

      Thanks! I'm glad you got a chance to walk down memory lane.

    • @resdupbug
      @resdupbug Před 3 lety

      @@andrewsaviation7792 absolutely! Binge watching your content right now, fantastic videos, thank you!

  • @tommcglone2867
    @tommcglone2867 Před 3 lety +32

    3:22
    That is Clipper Maid of the Seas.
    Which was the 747 that was brought down over Lockerbie.

    • @wendysloan7470
      @wendysloan7470 Před 3 lety +4

      That crash was always creepy to me because if that plane was delayed by 5-10 minutes it would of been brought down over my house

    • @nighthawk7863
      @nighthawk7863 Před 3 lety +1

      @@wendysloan7470 wow

  • @strafrag1
    @strafrag1 Před 3 lety +4

    Great video! I am retired airline and I remember this well. BN had gone route-mad in '78 with the deregulation act and started flying all these new routes and most importantly not within the hub and spoke system at their DFW hub. eg, they flew PIT-BRU with a 747. It was a money loser from day one. It was very sad when closed. I remember BN people in tears.

    • @1computernew
      @1computernew Před 3 lety +1

      I used to work with several Braniff Airlines employees. They all had nothing but good things to say about the company.

    • @bencass9693
      @bencass9693 Před 2 lety

      @James Donohue At no time did we fly a Boeing 747 from Pittsburgh to Brussels, Belgium. All of our European service was highly profitable. It was double fuel price increase in two consecutive years that caused us so much trouble.

  • @CinderFox98
    @CinderFox98 Před 3 lety +3

    I work for Airport Terminal Services (ATS) at Sky Harbor International Airport and we service Westjet and Sun Country here. That was truly interesting to learn SY is the legacy of Braniff

  • @craigjackson2428
    @craigjackson2428 Před 3 lety +3

    Great Job!!!!! So remember 1978 airline deregulation and the airlines that came along, regional players that expanded to become major players, and legacies that all eventually fell victim to shutdowns, bankruptcies and rendered to history books of failed business models. Braniff International was the first to exit the market.

  • @boatlover1875
    @boatlover1875 Před 3 lety +6

    Sadly, my cousin, who was trying to get in to the pilot business during that time had just finished his trining with them about a week before they went under.

  • @cris_261
    @cris_261 Před 3 lety +4

    For some reason, I have this memory of a commercial proclaiming "we're Braniff, and we're super!" that aired sometime in the 70s. Not sure why I remember that, other than the cute flight attendant/stewardess uttering that line.

  • @ericjones7769
    @ericjones7769 Před 3 lety +28

    I was also told on several different occasions that AA sabotaged Braniff as well

    • @Airplane_4000
      @Airplane_4000 Před 3 lety +13

      They did. At least a big part of AAs sabotage was mentioned when they matched Braniff’s sales when they were desperate for cash.

    • @flybarbflybarb8227
      @flybarbflybarb8227 Před 3 lety +1

      @Whirlmode Flutter lot of people work there! And the creeps took the money and ran!

    • @charlesjwin
      @charlesjwin Před 3 lety

      @@Airplane_4000 Price-matching is not "sabotage"... AA® wasn't even part of Braniff®. It IS, however, some serious, maybe even "cutthroat", competition.

    • @miniena7774
      @miniena7774 Před 3 lety

      @@charlesjwin
      Incorrect.
      "sabotage (n):
      a: an act or process tending to hamper or hurt
      b: deliberate subversion
      "
      www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sabotage
      Ergo, AA's price-matching was sabotage in that it undercut Braniff in its markets when the airline was at its weakest. AA not being part of Braniff is impertinent.

    • @miniena7774
      @miniena7774 Před 3 lety +2

      @@charlesjwin
      If that still doesn't constitute as sabotage for you, another user posted this:
      "
      *weprusso*
      1 week ago
      Just prior to Braniff's demise, American when around to travel agents and told them to "plate" Braniff tickets on American ticket stock.. This means that all cash from these types of tickets went to American, not Braniff. (Had Braniff survived, American would have had to fork over the cash eventually) This action severely cut Braniff's cash flow during their final few months of operation and American sat on millions of dollars that was owed to Braniff... Dirty play, Bob Crandall (Amerian's CEO)"

  • @leemartin1417
    @leemartin1417 Před 3 lety +1

    Remember as a young kid flying a few planes. I was in awe of the numerous color schemes. It was enchanting, the interior seemed of bright colors also. Braniff was friendly, stood out, ahead of its time. Sad to hear of their downfall. One day the airline should make a comeback by petition!

  • @MileHighDaredevil
    @MileHighDaredevil Před 2 lety +5

    You should mention that the Braniff employees pension was also ruined. Our good friend, a pilot, committed suicide because of it. My dad flew for Braniff for 35 years but he had the older pension that, although small, was safe.

    • @nope5445
      @nope5445 Před rokem +1

      My Dad also worked for Braniff for 35 years as an inspector. He began in the era of prop planes. Yes, he did receive a pension but reduced. Braniff was the coolest airline in the world! I remember when we flew Fat Albert to Honolulu. I was 15 I think. My wife did not believe me until I showed her photos. The 747 had a lounge upstairs with couches, a bar, and bartenders. It was really a club. Passengers walking around with drinks in hand and chatting. The meals then were outstanding and cherries jubilee for dessert. We flew 1st class because as an employee Dad only had to pay the sales tax for the tickets. Those were the days.

  • @UncleBooBoo
    @UncleBooBoo Před 3 lety +9

    I wonder if there’s a video to be made about the parallel journeys and demises of TWA and Pan-Am. Both owned by mavericks, both owned the skies in the glamorous 70s age of the 747 and the Jet Set, both barely survived deregulation in the 80s, both operated very elderly aircraft by the 90s (presumably could not fund adequate fleet renewal) and both finally brought down (literally) by 2 tragedies.

  • @RandallCarrierINC
    @RandallCarrierINC Před 3 lety +2

    We flew on Braniff between LAX and SFO. These flights originated in South America.The DC-8s were old and orange. The fare was cheap. Service bad. Great report. Equally great comments.

  • @97I30T
    @97I30T Před 3 lety +3

    Awesome video. You should do a video on Vanguard Airlines. They were a short lived low cost carrier that a lot of people have probably forgotten about or have never even heard of, so it might be an interesting one for you to cover.

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety

      Sounds like a good idea, I'll add it to the list!

    • @wayback75
      @wayback75 Před rokem

      I used to work for Vanguard in KC, I miss those days,,

    • @wayback75
      @wayback75 Před rokem

      I worked for Vanguard back in 96 ,, awesome airline, many fond memories.

    • @97I30T
      @97I30T Před rokem

      @@wayback75 There was a guy who went to my church in the late 90s who was a captain for Vanguard. He loved flying for them.

  • @antr7493
    @antr7493 Před 3 lety +2

    Do more of these short docs. They are great. Maybe Sunjet video

  • @marksinthehouse1968
    @marksinthehouse1968 Před 3 lety +6

    Shane braniff went bust ,for me as a aviation enthusiast l love the livery with its different colours which made it unique orange 707 next to a blue one a BAC 1/11 in red one of my favourite US airlines even tried Concorde .all the big carriers from when I was was small pan am ,TWA, gone

  • @mikemitchell9421
    @mikemitchell9421 Před 3 lety +6

    I loved flying Braniff in the early 1970s

  • @timcarlos
    @timcarlos Před 3 lety +5

    They also operated the BAC1-11.

  • @robertleewhitt6241
    @robertleewhitt6241 Před rokem

    I worked with Braniff airline’s Pilots > and these Pilots were some of the most talented &
    nicest pilots to work with in my 38 year career .
    I learned so much from their vast Aviation experience as a Young Pilot at Piedmont Airlines .
    To this day, Braniff airline employees flight attendants,agents , mechanics & pilots will always be in my heart as people that I loved to work with in my Airline career.

  • @RNWDawg
    @RNWDawg Před rokem +1

    Probably the best flight in my life was 1st class on a Braniff 747 from Honolulu to Dallas in the mid-1970s. That was the time when upstairs on 747s was a lounge, no seats, just couches. After a filet mignon dinner my brother and I went upstairs to the lounge where a full bar was laid out. Had a drink or two and then lay down on the couches and slept until about 1 hour out of Dallas. Was served a cook to order omelette with all the sides and then landed in Dallas. Memorable.

  • @TheCasualRealtor
    @TheCasualRealtor Před 3 lety +6

    I remember flying Braniff airways as a kid out of Long Island’s MacArthur airport. People would be smoking on those planes like forget about it! LOL It was a cool airline in the 70’s and 80’s.

  • @douglasdixon524
    @douglasdixon524 Před rokem +2

    I loved seeing the Braniff International planes at the airports in the 1970s and early 1980s. They head the most interesting paint schemes.

  • @vibekestronstad7859
    @vibekestronstad7859 Před 3 lety +6

    Can you make one about northwest or braathens safe?
    Lovey video BTW!!

  • @johnlopez7529
    @johnlopez7529 Před rokem

    Stopped by to see the air strip commercial but stayed to see entire video. Great presentation! Love documentaries of old airlines (Pan Am my favorite). You have my subscription!

  • @official_ntt1596
    @official_ntt1596 Před 3 lety +4

    Believe it!

  • @LMays-cu2hp
    @LMays-cu2hp Před 3 lety +4

    Yes, I do miss that airline.

  • @daveblevins3322
    @daveblevins3322 Před 3 lety +2

    I remember that well. One gentleman came to my office one day, and asked if we were hiring pilots. ( I was in a position to help him being a check airman, but I worked in the helicopter 🚁 industry flying offshore in the GOM ). He hadn't flown a helicopter in years, but I kinda felt bad for him a little bit. As we talked about aircraft and knowledge of helos, it was apparent that he would have cost me huge $$ to get him back up to speed. We didn't hire him, and I lost track of him. I hope he was successful in finding a great job.

  • @CAboy
    @CAboy Před 11 měsíci +1

    Bob Crandall was the CEO of American Airlines who had to vacated his position at American for his involvement in the hacking of Braniffs’ reservation system to reflect that Braniff was flying at full capacity. American had the Sabre System while Braniff had the Cowboy system. Back then there were no cell phones or the Internet. The only way to book a flight was to contact a travel agent or purchase your ticket at a City Office counter of the airline’s downtown office. When a customer would use the travel agent the hack displayed Braniff with a full load but American was flying to the same destination around the same time as Braniff. As you can imagine Braniff flew empty planes while American cheated and stole passengers from Braniff.

  • @Springbok295
    @Springbok295 Před 3 lety +3

    Rapid over expansion beginning in 1979 led to a lot of problems. They went on an ordering spree of new 747s. They were flying 747s with only a handful of passengers on routes in the Pacific beyond Hawaii. Increase in domestic routes meant hiring less than desirable ground staff who were poorly trained. American kept pulling the rug out from under BN at DFW. By late 80 into '81 the writing was on the wall.

    • @Springbok295
      @Springbok295 Před 3 lety

      @James Donohue I think BN had 747s operating on the Bogota route '79-'82

  • @mikestone9129
    @mikestone9129 Před 3 lety +4

    Do a video on Piedmont Airlines.

  • @mr.fullsend5498
    @mr.fullsend5498 Před 3 lety +3

    Great job Andrew very informational. Keep doing what your doing!!! Nathan :)

  • @markmonse5285
    @markmonse5285 Před 3 lety +2

    Lots of reasons, including over-expansion in the post-1978 deregulated environment. In the later months (but before they filed Chapter 11 in May of 1982) the airline I was working for picked up some their brand-new "white-tail" 727s for new service. They were 727-200 ADV with JT8D-17R engines that they'd ordered, and were some of the last 727s off the line. GREAT aircraft and never had any payload problems with them. Air Florida had five of them, and after QH's own bankruptcy, I think a couple went to Cayman Air and one went to Wien in Alaska.

  • @MrBullsFan
    @MrBullsFan Před 3 lety +2

    Hey!
    Enjoyed the video mate! I suggest you do Virgin America. Though very recent, it was quite quirky and different from others. (safety video was sick and entertaining) It also was the launch customer of A321NEO. The airline then merged with Alaska Airlines. Again, loved the video!

    • @kyotokid4
      @kyotokid4 Před 3 lety

      ...yeah I liked them as well, if you were ticketed through to a Virgin Atlantic fight, you didn't have to pay luggage fees on the domestic leg.

  • @lindayapchai7268
    @lindayapchai7268 Před 3 lety +2

    You amaze me! This one took a lot of research, great job Andrew.

  • @ASAviation
    @ASAviation Před 3 lety +3

    Amazing video man, I love watching these videos of yours! So well put together. If you don't mind me asking, where do you get those archive b-roll video clips from?

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety +1

      I got them from MANY different sources all around youtube and stock footage websites. I searched what was licensed "creative commons" and used those.

  • @Springbok314
    @Springbok314 Před 3 lety +6

    The Calder DC-8 and other artful schemes set Braniff apart.

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety +2

      Absolutely. Some of the most gorgeous planes in the sky!

    • @schoolssection
      @schoolssection Před 3 lety +1

      "Flying Colors" happened to be the airframe I was on in Dec. '76 -- Omaha to DFW. But I swear it was a B-727.

    • @juanone66
      @juanone66 Před 3 lety +2

      @@schoolssection There were 2 Calder aircraft - a DC-8 (Flying Colors of S. America) and a 727-200 (Flying Colors of USA)

    • @fao831
      @fao831 Před 3 lety +2

      As a kid i remember seeing the Calder DC-8 in Bogota, Colombia. What a beauty! A piece of art.

  • @garymathis1042
    @garymathis1042 Před 6 měsíci

    In 1970 I flew Braniff from Colorado Springs to Dallas Tx via Denver. It was a 727 and I was the only passenger on the plane. The pilot came back to the passenger section. looked at me and said, "Looks like you've got the plane all to yourself." I flew standby and was the only passenger in coach. The first-class stewardess came back to the coach and moved me up to first class, I guess because she was lonely. We sat beside each other in first class and just talked for the whole flight. She kept offering to bring me all these beverages, food, and stuff but I kept deferring, so we just talked. She told me all the places she had been, including Vietnam. I'll never forget that flight and I bet no one else has ever flown a flight like that since.

  • @donnafromnyc
    @donnafromnyc Před 3 lety +2

    Great job on this and loved the footage. It would be great if you could do one on New York Air 1980-1987. Active Facebook group could help. Also I was ad manager 1983 to end of 1986 so I was around for a decent chunk of the history.

  • @Alex-se4tk
    @Alex-se4tk Před 3 lety +2

    pls make more videos about bankrupt airlines they are really good

  • @davemiller6055
    @davemiller6055 Před 3 lety +2

    I had a toy Braniff 747 when I was little back in the 70s. Until I saw this video, I thought all Braniff planes were orange like my toy plane.

  • @soco13466
    @soco13466 Před 3 lety +2

    I always thought Braniff was foreign owned, probably because as a kid, I had a travel bag with their logo, with the phrase, "Entrada las Americas" on it. I was about 10 yrs old at the time.

  • @johnsymonstcu
    @johnsymonstcu Před 3 lety +7

    Excellent video. My only issue is that Delta Airlines, though having a large presence in Dallas/DFW has never been based in Dallas. They have always been and continue to be based in Atlanta. I am one of the minority who is not a fan of deregulation. Eliminating the CAB and allowing deregulation of fares and routes has been quite detrimental overall to the present state of onboard airline service. I am not a fan of flying "Greyhound in the Sky". 🤣

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety

      You are correct that Delta was never based in Dallas, but they were included because they had a large presence in Dallas at the time.

    • @johnsymonstcu
      @johnsymonstcu Před 3 lety +1

      @@andrewsaviation7792 Yes, they were quite large at DFW in the '70's. I was a student at TCU in Fort Worth at the time and regularly flew DL back home. They had incredible service back then and the flight attendants were so nice and professional. This was at the time DFW had just opened and I remember feeling so optimistic about the future of the airline industry. Those were the "good old days". 🤣

    • @KCFlyer2
      @KCFlyer2 Před 3 lety +2

      Yes....Delta wasn't based in Dallas, but it was one of their hub cities, so there were many nonstop flights to almost every one of Braniff's destinations.

  • @aviation7973
    @aviation7973 Před 3 lety +4

    Can you do America West Airlines next?
    I have really wanted to know why that airline went down

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety +1

      Got them on my list :D

    • @charlesjwin
      @charlesjwin Před 3 lety +1

      They didn't go down: they accepted U.S. Airways in a merger of the two and took the latter's name as the sole-surviving name because it was recognized more by the public masses.

  • @lukedavison9430
    @lukedavison9430 Před 3 lety +3

    Another awesome video!

  • @txtabby
    @txtabby Před rokem

    May 12th 1982. Got a message from my travel agent while I was in SF. Said Braniff went bankrupt, had to book another airline. I kept that ticket for years, but was lost in a move. It'd be worth a lot of money to collectors now... But I'll never forget that call.. really sad.

  • @lil_a_6273
    @lil_a_6273 Před 3 lety +3

    Can you maybe do a airtran one about the history of it. Thanks. Great video btw

  • @AndrewStinsonAPU
    @AndrewStinsonAPU Před 3 měsíci

    I was hired as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines at Love Field on the same day Braniff ceased operations. Love Field was a zoo! It was a Wednesday and I couldn't get back home to S. Texas on a company pass because every flight was packed full. By Friday, I was eventually put on the aft jumpseat with the B flight attendant in order to get back home to the Rio Grande Valley and return to Dallas by Monday to start my flight attendant training. A couple of years on, Southwest leased 6 ex-Braniff Boeing 727's and I found some cool Braniff items still stuffed away in the galley and lavatory compartments. I flew for 16 years and was one of the first male flight attendants hired by Southwest after they were sued for not having any. It was certainly the best of times!

  • @jamescarroll6954
    @jamescarroll6954 Před rokem

    I once read that Allegheny Airline was in negotiations with Braniff, and that the newly formed carrier was to be named “All-Bran.”

  • @dougramey4571
    @dougramey4571 Před 6 měsíci

    My first airline and loved every minute as a Flight Engineer. Friendliest co-workers ever. Such a sad ending but US Airways became my future for the next 25 years.

  • @ewengb3485
    @ewengb3485 Před 3 lety +7

    Can you make a video on the downfall of Swissair and Sabena?

  • @CinemaDemocratica
    @CinemaDemocratica Před 3 lety +4

    "Braniff expected their profits to increase, *but* ... the exact opposite happened!"

  • @johniii8147
    @johniii8147 Před 3 lety +8

    The same reason they all failed. Bad management that couldn’t survive deregulation

    • @phishbill
      @phishbill Před 3 lety

      It's hard for some to survive degradation. People can be so mean.

    • @johniii8147
      @johniii8147 Před 3 lety

      @Kittykitty Katt Until recently buffet actually have more than $4 billion invested in airlines. That was Crandall that advised against investing. Buffet’s company Was very active in airline stocks with sizable holdings in all of the big 4. Cashed out when Covid hit but very active investor during the good times

    • @johniii8147
      @johniii8147 Před 3 lety

      @Kittykitty Katt He’ll be back when the money is there

  • @jarrellbabb1344
    @jarrellbabb1344 Před rokem

    Braniff in 1971 had daily flight to Dallas from San Antonio with stop in Austin. I took that flight 3 times in a year.

  • @sephirahisui
    @sephirahisui Před 3 lety +5

    Who ever thought they'd end up producing "South Park" of all things?

  • @JC-ft8fx
    @JC-ft8fx Před 3 lety +2

    Very interesting & a great report.

  • @canadianplanespotter
    @canadianplanespotter Před 3 lety +4

    Very professionally-made! That stock footage must cost a pretty penny :P

    • @andrewsaviation7792
      @andrewsaviation7792  Před 3 lety

      Thanks :D. It was not easy to come by!

    • @christao408
      @christao408 Před 3 lety

      Interesting, I find the stock footage usage pretty distracting and irrelevant (Euros depicted even though the Euro was not in use when Braniff was around). And there are a number of free sites that offer high quality stock footage.

  • @paulkazzer
    @paulkazzer Před 3 lety +2

    At 1 minute 39 you used Australian dollars to express Braniff’s losses. 😎 cool.

  • @legmyth
    @legmyth Před 2 lety

    My Dad worked for Braniff up to when they shutdown. We were fortunate to fly on a 747 (Big Orange) out of DFW several times to Hawaii when we were kids. Even as a youngster I could remember that, that giant plane did not have very many passengers. Great memories, it was truly sad to see them go down. My Dad loved working for Braniff.

    • @nope5445
      @nope5445 Před rokem

      Fat Albert... yes flew on it too. Before they bought it we had to fly on a 727 to Hawaii.

  • @zacktong8105
    @zacktong8105 Před 2 lety +1

    Bob Crandall the tough talking but capable chief of American Airlines once remarked "Fun to work for and lots of other good things, but DON'T EVER INVEST IN AN AIRLINE. Braniff spent lavishly on show and reckless decisions on equipment and routes. The nonsense tag line summed it up :
    "WE'D BETTER BE BETTER WE'RE BRANIFF!"

  • @milehightv6077
    @milehightv6077 Před 3 lety +3

    You should make a video on the all business class airline silver airlines

  • @2000AVIATION
    @2000AVIATION Před 3 lety +2

    another great video!

  • @PlasmaCoolantLeak
    @PlasmaCoolantLeak Před rokem

    My first airplane flight was on Braniff out of OAK to LAX on my way to basic training.

  • @OneAmercia
    @OneAmercia Před rokem +1

    Mr. John J. Casey became head CEO of Braniff and his brother was CEO of American Airlines together they destroyed Braniff so American Airlines could take over DFW from its move from New York. Then there was a Federal Court inquiry into AA's criminal activity. Ted Beckwith, the CFO of Braniff, was murdered a day before he was to testify on Casey's crime of bankrupting Braniff. Then there was the third Casey. William Joseph Casey (March 13, 1913 - May 6, 1987) was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1981 to 1987. In this capacity, he oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community. After Ted Beckwith's murder by the Casey family, the former CEO Harding L. Lawrence moved to Europe in order to not be the next target. You see my fellow Braniff employees the airline that you worked so hard for was destroyed by criminals and of course, William Casey head of the CIA made sure that the crimes were never investigated, and still, to this day the murder of Braniff's CFO Ted Beckwith remains unsolved. Braniff did not go Bankrupt it was a corporate murder.

  • @peternicolaides6256
    @peternicolaides6256 Před 3 lety +1

    I used to fly some of those SA flights that we purchased from Braniff at Eastern Airlines loved Argentina, Peru , Costa Rica, Bolivia and more.😎

  • @jonellard6686
    @jonellard6686 Před rokem

    I was just a few days from flying to Hawaii when they ceased operations. Worthless tickets. I don't know how it happened but United honored our tickets.
    My 8 hr non stop turned into 20+ hrs. Same on the return!
    At least we got to enjoy Hawaii!

  • @terryw8432
    @terryw8432 Před rokem +1

    The first pic of a Pan Am 747 was "Clipper Maid of the Seas" , This was the ill fated Lockerbie Aircraft.

  • @davidkellymitchell4747
    @davidkellymitchell4747 Před 2 lety +2

    Great airline that got ended by poor management and deregulation. The best management was unable to save it. Braniff was the first to have multicolored planes in a world of boring same livery planes.

  • @RedStallion2000
    @RedStallion2000 Před 7 měsíci +1

    Hi Andrew! In the video's description, you make mention of "American Airline's sabotage." However, I didn't hear anything about it in the video or find it in the transcript. Can you expound on this?

  • @philscholze6528
    @philscholze6528 Před rokem

    My only trip on BN was a MAC flight from BienHoa Vietnam to Travis AFB with a refueling stop at Yokota AFB Japan. A beautiful sight for war weary GIs coming home. Attractive, friendly stews, too. A big, green 707! What memories!

  • @scottiew11
    @scottiew11 Před 2 lety +1

    I worked in their Bond Street ticket office and sometimes at Gatwick in the late 70s and I left in 1981, just before the closure. Although our uniforms were designed by Halston I only remember the itchy polyester pants! I still hate American Airlines to this day.

  • @jocelynharris-fx8ho
    @jocelynharris-fx8ho Před rokem

    You forgot to mention that American Airlines' CEO at the time, Robert Crandall, was charged with using anti-comoetitive tactics that helped drive Braniff out of business. He used the company's Sabre computer system to manipulate prices and he was charged in court.. I was 14 at the time, but I loved the airline business and kept abreast of the goings on. In 1976, I had to have major surgery and my mother's aunt, who was a nurse, flew from D.C., to helo me with my recovery. She flew back on Braniff and she told the pilots and flight attendants about me and they signed a get well card, which "aunt Polly" mailed back to me. For some reason, I remember that the Captain of her flight was a man named Don Berhman. I never forgot what these incredible people did and it angers me how Robert Crandall helped to destroy these people's careers. To this day, I refuse to fly American. Braniff was a wonderful company with great, kind hearted people and I mourn it's demise even to this day.😢😢😢

  • @johnreid2999
    @johnreid2999 Před 3 lety +2

    Robert Crandall had a lot to do with it

  • @luisvaldes1568
    @luisvaldes1568 Před 2 lety +2

    At 1:07, I think that's Utah's Capitol building in Salt Lake City. Look at that big power plant in the back ground.

    • @luisvaldes1568
      @luisvaldes1568 Před 2 lety +1

      By the way I remember Texas International Airlines.

    • @villiamo3861
      @villiamo3861 Před rokem

      I've been going through the comments just to see if somebody else noticed that all that deregulatory legislation was coming out of Utah!

  • @atatexan
    @atatexan Před rokem +1

    They were going to hire me in 1979. Too desperate at that point. Harding Lawrence rolled the dice after deregulation as you point out. Grow big or die. This error combined with a recession and Iran Revolution caused fuel price spikes caught Braniff with no forward fuel contracts. Kaboom.

  • @NALTOHQ
    @NALTOHQ Před rokem +1

    Wish you would upload again.

  • @LanaRainbow69
    @LanaRainbow69 Před 2 měsíci +1

    I still have my Braniff charge card - (this was before MasterCard!)

  • @waitwhatdoyoumean
    @waitwhatdoyoumean Před 3 lety +3

    Can you do the rise and fall of pan am idk if u made it's already I just started to watch your videos

  • @lauraesser6044
    @lauraesser6044 Před 3 lety +2

    GREAT JOB
    !!!! SO PROUD OF YOU!!!

  • @Pluviophile218
    @Pluviophile218 Před rokem

    When I was working for TWA back then we called Braniff "The Jelly Bean Fleet" because their planes were all different colors.

  • @michaelosgood9876
    @michaelosgood9876 Před rokem

    Love the Braniff DC8s used on bus stop servjces thru Latin & South America in late 60s into the 70s. Different style of flying back then, but the DC8 62 was the A350ULR of that Era, before the 747SP came online

  • @bigal1337
    @bigal1337 Před rokem

    Wife was a flight attendant for them, went to one of their holiday banquets was first class then bankruptcy! But we made it! First Northwest now Delta for over 30 years!

  • @redeye_
    @redeye_ Před 2 lety +1

    if you like south park. you might know the company name until it stopped being used on the series

  • @JamesMcOmber
    @JamesMcOmber Před rokem

    I worked Dallas Rez. from 1977 thru the end. Then Alaska Airlines, SEA and PDX, and finally Hawaiian Airlines, HNL.

  • @RailfanTurner
    @RailfanTurner Před 3 lety +1

    Terrific video! I did know this was an airline at first.

  • @andersschoen3613
    @andersschoen3613 Před rokem

    I flew on them once as a 12 year old. It was a green colored Braniff B727. Little did I know back then that later in life i was to became a B727 driver myself. Love all those defunct legacy airlines. Sad so many have closed down.

  • @jamesbraun7709
    @jamesbraun7709 Před rokem

    I worked for Braniff . There was a lot of thiefs in charge . The people enjoyed what they did ,Braniff had a good reputation at the gate . When we got in our new A-320 I helped him start a motor to run some tests . The Prez and criminal cohart ran Braniff into the ground . Even tried to get some of oue sexy ground crew to go to Vegas with them to get some working capital . The girls told them to stuff it ..

  • @stthecat3935
    @stthecat3935 Před rokem

    And this is why airlines shouldn’t overexpand and expect profits to come overnight just to increase their presence internationally

  • @AvianCrave
    @AvianCrave Před 3 lety +2

    Nice video

  • @stuartlee6622
    @stuartlee6622 Před 2 lety +1

    I loved Braniff.
    They were SO cool to fly!

  • @JWUniverse
    @JWUniverse Před 6 měsíci +1

    Never heard of Braniff before sucks they went under so fast!