The Six Lives of Braniff International
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ธ.ค. 2021
- Hello all! :D
Today, we'll be talking about another airline of the past, this time Braniff International, a carrier which traced its roots back to the infancy of air travel, and throughout its lengthy existence was restarted six separate times for various reasons.
Special thanks to Jessica Martin of Braniff International for getting in touch and providing me with additional information relating to both this documentary and regarding the collapse of Braniff International Airways during May 1982.
For clarification, she has confirmed that the footage of Braniff airliners for the first 24 seconds of the video, as well as interspersed throughout the documentary, is Copyright, Braniff Airways, Incorporated, 1926 2022, therefore, the title of 'Unknown' should be considered obsolete.
For information regarding the collapse of Braniff during 1982, she has stated the following to provide an insider view of the final days of the company and its current status:
"There have been many rumors surrounding the cessation of air operations (only air operations ceased, all other subsidiaries and certain departments continued in operation to this day) and one of them is the belief that Mr. Putnam decided to close down the company because of his inability to receive a court injunction concerning a pilot strike. Rest assured that our pilots were not planning to strike and the only possible reason that this rumor may have occurred was because of a possible strike of Pan Am pilots. We were in discussions with both Pan American, Eastern and American concurring the transfer or our Latin America Division.
In a letter to creditors, dated May 17, 1982, Mr. Putnam detailed the exact dates and times of the cessation of air operations complete with explanations and reasons. None of the reasons had anything to do with a pilot strike or any other reason other than certain funds that we were counting on had not arrived and the Load Factor had dropped strangely and without reason down to only 29 percent during the last two weeks of operation. Rumors had begun swirling that we were shutting down as early at May 1, 1982, and those have since been traced back to a competitor."
Once again, I would like to thank Jessica Martin for getting in touch with me, and her additional information relating to the carrier is both enlightening and greatly appreciated.
All video content and images in this production have been provided with permission wherever possible. While I endeavour to ensure that all accreditations properly name the original creator, some of my sources do not list them as they are usually provided by other, unrelated TH-camrs. Therefore, if I have mistakenly put the accreditation of 'Unknown', and you are aware of the original creator, please send me a personal message at my Gmail (this is more effective than comments as I am often unable to read all of them): rorymacveigh@gmail.com
The views and opinions expressed in this video are my personal appraisal and are not the views and opinions of any of these individuals or bodies who have kindly supplied me with footage and images.
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References:
- Braniff Boutique (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references) - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Something happened to Braniff in mid - late 1984. In that period Braniff hired me. I went to the hiring process, medical Etc. On a Thursday I signed the contract to start on Monday. Sunday they called and informed me that they had ceased operation and had to cancel the contract. Several month later I received a check for one week salary. 👍😂
I thought it closed in 1982?
Having been born in Ft. Worth, Braniff was a big part of my life. It was exciting to fly with them with their service always being fantastic and their food top notch. I remember one of their last flights, I flew with my sons from Dallas to Seattle and their snack service on that flight was a steak sandwich, salad and pecan pie....I can even taste it to this day! Thanks for the memories!
I grew up in a United Airlines household and used to love to go to the old Denver Stapleton Airport, where Branniff shared the "B" concourse with United. The Branniff gates were at the head of the "B" concourse so we had to walk by them to get to our gates further down the concourse. I remember them always being...well...empty, though often with a 727 or DC-8 parked outside. Those Branniff planes and gates were my favorites to look at; they were gorgeous. Oranges, greens, and reds. Some of the prettiest airline liveries of the late 70's and early 80's. Branniff may have been poorly run in terms of fiscal policy, but they were fun to look at.
When I think of Braniff I remember the crazy, wild, way out psychedelic 'space bubble' miniskirt uniforms designed by Emilio Pucci and worn by Braniff female flight attendants in the fun, exciting and fashionable swinging sixties, plus the highly distinctive aircraft exteriors painted from nose to tail in one of 15 bright, bold Crayola colors with BI and an American flag above the 'I' on the tail. The planes were called "flying jelly beans" and it was, as Braniff's ads boasted “The end of the plain plane. We don’t get you there any faster. It just seems that way.” Back in those exciting, fun 'anything goes' days Braniff was the grooviest, coolest airline on the planet. They even briefly flew Concorde from New York to Dallas but it didn't make money for the airline because it couldn't fly supersonic over land and thus was no quicker, and a lot more expensive, than a 727 flying the same route. Braniff International ... even the name sounded cool, glamorous and different. Lest anyone miss the underlying message of what a passenger could expect onboard a Braniff plane, the airline asked “Does your wife know you’re flying with us?” and produced an advert called "Braniff Presents The Air Strip" which you can find online. Playboy Magazine even ran a pictorial in its November 1982 issue featuring "The Women Of Braniff."
Today in these achingly dull, boring PC and woke times there is nothing even remotely like Braniff, just mundane politically-correct uni-gender utilitarian functionality, and we are unlikely to ever see anything like it again. If you are young e.g. todays Whatsapp/Instagram Generation (so sorry for you ...) you will have absolutely no idea what it was like back then. But if you're interested/curious do an online search for Braniff, its history and uniforms and you might get some idea of what your generation has missed :)
Also, check out an interesting online article called Halston flight uniforms for Braniff Archives - Society Texas written by a former Braniff steward about what it was like to fly for the airline. Halston uniforms replaced the Pucci uniforms in 1973, which coincidentally marked the end of the fun swinging 60s.
Sadly for you, we are piloting the planes now, rather than dressing up like Barbie dolls, and putting up with being groped! 😎
@@Queen-of-Swords both could happen, but like OP said woke culture is killing all that was good. That being said, flying now is basically done by computer. Back then in the era of trijets and 3+ crew cockpits, flying still tested pilots' skill and mettle. Commercial aviation is sterile and clinical now.
Well written.. I worked there 5 years and it was the best place I have ever worked
@@Queen-of-Swordsimagine being so bitter you walk around life with a chip on your shoulder.
I like your comment
I havent thought about Braniff and Piedmont in years! Wow this takes me back. Dad used to fly both when Aunt Barbara was a little girl. Happy Saturday and thank you Rory, excellent content as always, and we appreciate the hard work and fine research you put into each and every video you make!
i think piedmont still exists to an extent.
Hi Aunt Barbara! I love your channel! I had never flown Braniff, but took Piedmont many places from Chicago to the southeast. I remember Piedmont punch, very good peanuts cooked in oil, and corned beef sandwiches! Also they had at the time some of the most friendly employees in aviation.Toward their last years they were flying widebody planes to Europe! I really miss them!
Piedmont flies under the American Airlines Brand, depending on what part of the United States you live
My first was on Braniff flying from Japan to Hawaii in 1968. I had an amazing experience at the age of 8 years old.
I flew on Braniff from Yokota AB Japan to Hawaii in 1969. It was a military charter flight.
Harding Lawerence built Braniff into a major player, but his decisions after airline deregulation led to its demise. Lenders wanted their money and wouldn't provide more. By the time Howard Putnam arrived, Braniff barely had enough cash to meet payroll and operating expenses. Increased competition at DFW and forced contraction gave Braniff's customers a reason to go elsewhere. Braniff II and subsequent iterations found it even harder to survive. Great video!
I've just heard of this airline because it's at the end of episodes of South Park.
Same here. I can hear the instrumental of "The Sky is Blue and All the Leaves are Green" in my head. BELIEVE IT!
@@DiRF Oh it has lyrics? Interesting to know.
Apparently the maker of South Park acquired the Braniff brand after the end of the airline. Believe it.
The only reason I clicked this video was to find out what's behind the South Park connection. Was surprised it wasn't mentioned!
Exactly LOL. I’m surprised there’s barely anyone who doesn’t ONLY know it from South Park here.
@@mattteee2973 Simplified, Braniff was dead, so Matt and Trey decided “ok let’s use one of their trademarks or some shiz lmao”. And also the video of Braniff in the logo is from some “New Braniff commerical” or smthin.
Honestly never heard of Branniff until now. You learn something new every day for sure, and fantastic to learn it from you. Another great video!
Amazing how little certain generations now about past history.
I still have some Braniff dinnerware my grandmother had and I remember flying out of Dallas in 92 and seeing a huge number of Braniff planes parked in a holding area at the far end of the airport.
so your grandma stole the silverware, people taking advantage is a contributing factor to six failures.
Loved the 727 in that deep, rich brown, and I love your videos dude. Thanks for posting.
As a child in the late 1970's, my family flew quite often from Rio to Miami and back. I remember flying Braniff's DC-8s in a wonderful livery conceived by Calder, the creator of mobiles and stabiles. Art was almost everywhere back then.
Calder's aircraft art was beautiful
@@andrewphillips6563 Yes, He painted a DC-8 and a 727. I think the 727 was called Flying Colors.
prior to this video the only thing i ever knew about Braniff was the loss of one of its BAC-111's in a thunderstorm where it was hit by wind gusts so strong it ripped the tail clean off in flight
The crash you're referring to occurred in August 1966 in Nebraska. I believe it was ruled pilot error (the pilots tried to penetrate a storm).
Another Braniff crash occurred in May 1968. An Electra crashed near Dawson, Texas, killing everyone on board (85?). Pilot error may have been the cause, something about the captain putting the plane into too steep a turn to avoid bad weather (?).
In 1961 my first jet flt was a Braniff 707 from San Antonio to Dallas (Love Field). In 1968, while in UT majoring in Transportation, I got a summer job as a BN ticket agent during the World's Fair, HemisFair
Excellent video again. 👏🙂
I lived in Dallas in the 70s and early 80s -- Braniff got a lot of my business out of DFW. I never gave the livery much thought at the time, but looking back it was certainly striking.
Always was a smart looking aircraft.
Great show...thanks
An excellent report!
You did a fabulous job with this tortured history. One of my interesting but sad career actions was setting in motion Braniff’s 1989 Bankruptcy. At the time I was an executive of International Aero Engines AG, engine supplier to the ex-Pan Am A320’s. I dealt with the three BIACOR executives you referred to. Complete crooks.
Can you imagine the reaction now, if you asked a workforce to work a year without pay?!
Some places still do this. It's called an "internship"
No one can afford to do this today, on current pay. The C-suite would still pay themselves today, anyway; probably millions.
30 years of stagnant wages, rising living costs and corporate greed have put paid to that!
Because these days people have no loyalty to a company.
These days it is the reverse...
The sponsor clips of classic South Park introduced me to Braniff
Believe it!
I was hired by Dalfort Aviation in 1986 as a cleaner, Dalfort Owned 80% of Braniff I worked at the old Braniff hanger at love field. I went to school and got my A&P in 1989, I worked on Braniff 727-200 aircraft as a mechanic until 1996. I was hired by Southwest airlines in 1997, I have been with Southwest since, I remember working with the awesome men and women who worked for Braniff that was hired back after the shut down in 1983. I miss Braniff, It is just very sad to me that its not flying any longer.
Not sure howd id cope without this channel.
Excellent content.
Id love to hear a history of Belgian national airlines .. SABENA through to SN Brussels airlines and then Brussels Airlines.
I forgot to say this video was truly fascinating. Thank you.
Loved the shoutout to Sun Country ☀️
I remember Sun Country's first 727 landing at MSP for the first time.275AF I think. A former Air Florida plane
thanks for this!
Flew the big orange from Gatwick to DFW in the early 80's, great airline and great service
very well administered video. full of information. i was not aware of the okie connection.
i flew braniff extensively traveling on business during the 1975/1985 time period out of tulsa.
i hope the silverware i stole during that time did not impact their financial position. i still use the set to this day in 2021. mixed in with other delta and continential and american silverware in the airline bin of one of my kitchen drawers.
Awesome!
Greeting from Helsinki!
4:32 the fellow walks right in front of the Propellers.... Nuts!
Flew on Braniff once (5th incarnation). That was in 1987 from Chicago to Kansas City (MO) on board a Boeing 727.
I flew a lot in the mid to late 1980s, from 8th grade through high school. I attended an outstanding military school and flew home at holidays and the end of each year. Oddly enough, the only time that I remember seeing Braniff Int'l was at the end of several TV shows of that era. At the end of the final credits, an image of an airliner in Braniff livery appeared on screen and the word Braniff would appear. I had no idea back then as to why. I only heard of the company long after its demise.
South Park used that graphic (looking like it was ripped from a degraded VHS tape) for decades after Braniff went out of business. I think they still do.
In the late 1970s, Braniff ordered a bunch of Boeing 727-200s painted in various colors (either red, orange, green, blue, brown or black) which matched Corvette Sting Rays of the era. Braniff's CEO must have owned at least one Corvette. Very attractive.
One of my coworkers, Rose Ella, says that she worked as a flight attendant for Braniff for many years up until the 1980s, and that it was her favorite job - her "dream job", if you will. She also said that, given the chance, she would go back to work for Braniff if she could. She's about retirement age now. Southwest Airlines apparently replaced Braniff, and Southwest is the airliner fly with most frequently.
Never had the chance to fly Braniff, although I remember one of their commercials with a stewardess (I think) looking at the camera and saying, "we're Braniff, and we're super!" And I also remember the news report detailing Braniff's shutdown.
They also said..We better be better...we're Braniff!!
I'm old enough to remember Braniff. God I feel old.
I feel like I'm missing a big part of US aviation history, I'll need to do some reading.
It's crazy that one thing can affect so many people so much.
That's the world, huh?
What a sad story of an airline.
There is a Braniff Street just south of Hobby Airpot in Houston.
Does anyone know if there is a Peoples Express video out there ? I always wanted to fly Braniff but never got too...It was the Texan connection and Orange 747 that made me curious being a Limey living over there in CA .
Is there any airline still around that is named after its founder? Most that I could think of are geographically named now (even Delta Airlines, after the Mississippi delta).
As an Austrian I remember Lauda Air, (fly)Niki, Laudamotion in its various incarnations over the years, all linked to airline entrepreneur and ex racing driver Niki Lauda (1949 to 2019). (Currently Lauda Europe still exists as a subsidiary of Ryanair, based in Malta ...)
Niki Lauda would also be an excellent story on this channel, I'm sure.
Edit: And of course there's Ryanair itself, named after its founder Tony Ryan (1936 to 2007) who started Ryanair in 1983/1984 as a regional carrier of moderate success. Only after Michael O'Leary took over in 1993 it really took off as Europe's leading low cost carrier.
...Braniff also operated the L-188 Electra.
I love the "Jellybean fleet" mod uniforms the cabin crew wore and the leather seats in coach.
Their motto back then was "When you got it , flaunt it" which came from the musical comedy the Producers.
I also remember the "second Braniff" which at the time exclusively operated 727-200s.
Deregulation ruined the industry.
I remember this airline also CP air flying over the UK in the 70s.
There was the legendary story about Braniff that they invited, in Spanish, passengers to travel in leather seats. But due to a mistranslation they were invited to travel...... naked!
always loved the brand.. even though never flew with them.. but loved the orange on orange colour
I remember seeing the magazine ads in National Geographic so luxurious!
Braniff's phone call filing for bankruptcy for like, the 11th time: hey "Suzan- it's me again, you know the drill"
I couldn’t help notice that merger of Braniff and Pan American Grace Airways(Panagra) in 1967, which introduced the DC-8 to the airline, which replaced the Boeing 707.
I Miss TWA .... I worked for TWA in flight operations for 9 years, just before Icahn. My dad worked for TWA for 33 years, so I was an Airline Brat, I can remember flying on the Connie when I was kid. Also, the excitement every time Boeing came out with a new Jet. It was a great time, TWA people were the best, they deserve better.
you didnt mention the MCI hub or the DC-8 services or the calder a/c
When I was a kid I always wanted to fly in an orange 747. It was the colour that did it for me. Couldnt care less who the airline was.
Yes
Didn't Airfix do a kit of a Braniff 747 called, "Big Orange"? I answered my own question; 1980 catalogue 1/144 scale.
I can say with complete candor that I was the pivotal person pulling the horrible Scott Spencer/Jeffrey Chowdry/Arthur Cohen BIA-COR Braniff down in 1989. Good story, too.
3:33 is this Midway Airport?
Have you tried history of Walt Disney World airport?
This sounds fascinating.
What was the air-mail scandal?
This is TH-cam gold to a bookkeeper in training.
If you like this stuff, you might also like Drachnifel for navel history
Another great history of company I not really heard of, but with a colourfully history.👍🏻
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.
"When you've got it, flaunt it!"
I find it really irronic that airline made by the executives failed, but the ones by lower level staff didn't.
It would be nice to have an episode on British Caledonian
Your video is wonderful,! Just one small request..The “s” on the end of St. Louis is pronounced as an “s” and not an “e” 😊
I never heard of Braniff.
I see that there is no mention of the Braniff DC 8s.. otherwise very interesting.
I was a technician for Braniff 2
One of my Dad's friends was a Braniff pilot. He stuck with them until the end and was owed $100k in back pay. He got pennies on the dollar after bankruptcy court.
Now you gotta complete the defunct US airlines series.
I come from a Braniff family, thanks for the memories. 10:10 Classic but sadly, dying Texas icon, with hat and “skol” spit cup.
You mention that Braniff was involved in transporting troops for the US military during World War II but then failed to mention that it was the Pentagon's airline of choice during the Vietnam War from 1966-1973. Operating charter flights out of Travis AFB in Oakland, California, on behalf of Military Airlift Command (MAC) not only did it ferry troops to Da Nang and back but also military and civilian personnel, and cargo to Saigon, Tokyo, Guam and Clark AFB in the Philippines, managing to total 90 flights per month across the Pacific. It also transported military personnel including the wounded, the dead, and soldiers on leave, coast to coast across the US on behalf of MAC. Braniff weren't the only commercial airliner to get a slice of that pie but theirs was the biggest.
So they flew the Concorde sub sonically...Why would anyone think that was a good idea?
The sky is blue and all the leaves are green
Braniff believe it
16:28 so Spencer did get involved in Braniff after all - who would have seen that coming?
Quite colourful liveries and who says most modern jets look the same.
No mention of the only exposure most of the world will have had to the Braniff name - in the closing credits to South Park episodes!
I have an unopened pack of Braniff playing cards...wonder what they are worth
Wish I’d flown Braniff.
I flew them in the '60's and '70's and the late '80's. They may have had the same stewardesses.
They had some great colour schemes designed by Artist Alexander Calder a bit like Courtline Airways with there pastel colours.
Clicked so fast.
It's *St. Louis*, not St. Louie!
"In today's news, Braniff enters its 116th bankruptcy..."
Looking back to the early Sixties South American shows barely token operations. One a WEEK each to Bogata , Rio/Sao Paulo , and Buenos Aires supplemented by DC-7Cs whose great range was hardly needed from New York-Miami (by Eastern)-Panama with one a week coming down from Texas. Domestic service was rather thin as well to New York, Chicago, and Minneapolis via intermediate cities. Dallas and Houston were sleepy cow towns with little promise way back then and a poor reputation establish in Kennedy's killing and Vietnam destroying Johnson
huh
I flew Braniff but once in 1981, nice sandwiches.
BIG NEON PLANESSS
flew on them a couple of times.
remember eastern airlines?
You failed to mention Braniff operated 12 DC8s, which were backbone of their South American operation, mainly long range 62 series. Portrayed as an all Boeing airline with a few 111s. Not one picture of this aircraft in Braniff colors. You sold this aircraft short in another video. Last video watch of yours🖐👋
Way back,with prop planes,they made a fuel stop,@ MONTEGO BAY JAMAICA BWI,,if you needed to go to USA,in a hurry,you could get a ride,BUT NOT BEING A ROUTE CARRIER,YOUR TICKET PRICE WAS VERY HIGH,that was all I knew of BRANIFF,at the time,they had a orange colored B747,WHICH HAS THE WORLD RECORD,OF MOST FLIGHTS,KNOWN AS ‘THE ORANGE PUMPKIN,,Although I never flew them,it was sad to see an airline die,🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
Don't look now, but Braniff 7.0 was just incarnated in the guise of Condor Airlines. LOL
Why was there a "Braniff" title card at the end of South Park Episodes? th-cam.com/video/1jmNX0P7EAM/w-d-xo.html
It was dead, and for some reason Matt and Trey thought they could just abuse copyrights because of that. I can relate to that exact feeling Matt and Trey had making Braniff
It’s not Louis as in French. It’s pronounced Saint “Lewis” when speaking of the city in Missouri. Which itself is pronounced Miss oo ruh.
So if you let the employees start an airline they managed to pull it off where multiple CEOs blew it...
Kann mich noch an die "bunten" Jumbos entsinnen, als die in FRA ankamen!
Bike trailer
American Airlines killed Braniff.
Now American is just about to be going out of business.
Karma, baby.
BELEIVE IT (kill me)
Bring back Pan Am.
If BI was still in buisness today they'd have an all Airbus fleet. A319. A320, A 321, A330, A340, A350, and even a few A380's with highly distinctive aircraft exteriors painted from nose to tail in one of 15 bright, bold Crayola colors with BI and an American flag above the 'I' on the tail.