ABOUT
On March 1, 1984, Braniff, Inc., the successor of Braniff Airways, Inc., and Braniff International Corporation, inaugurated service from its Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport hub to eighteen major US cities. It was the largest single-day successful airline startup in US history.
"Braniff will not fly again. Go find another job!" June 1982, Braniff Airways, Incorporated, Chairman of the Board of Directors Howard D. Putnam
And thats just what The Braniff Family did. True to form, they did it one better and started their own airline literally from the ground up. Braniff Airways, Incorporated, ceased operations on May 12-13, 1982, and 22 months later a new reborn Braniff, Inc., was launched amidst great pride not only from the Braniff Family but from the citizens of the Dallas/Ft Worth area.
It was a long and hard fought battle to put Braniff back into the air. The management at Airways was not interested in launching a new Braniff but preferred to retire the Braniff name and find a merger partner or a buyer for Airways' assets. Initially, in October 1982 a planned merger between Airways and Pacific Southwest was proposed. PSA wanted to begin a low-cost no-frills carrier in Texas with DFW as its base and the assets of Airways looked to be a promising way to achieve this goal.
The new PSA Braniff would be operated as a separate entity but would become known as Pacific Southwest Airlines or PSA. The entity would use some of the former Braniff employees and operate a select number of Airways' Boeing 727-200 series trijets. The plan met with resistance from Airways' labor groups but most importantly from the Federal Aviation Administration which was not pleased with the acquisition of Braniff Airways landing slots at various proposed airports of service. The deal quickly fell through and Airways began searching for another merger partner.
However, retired Braniff Airways pilots Captain Jack Morton, Captain Jack Murdock and Captain Glenn Shoop proposed launching a new Braniff that would operate on its own and under the famous and well-known Braniff name. The three pilots created a business plan that said the new carrier could operate Boeing 727-200 series trijets at 5 cents per Available Seat Mile. Initial offering of the prospectus drew little interest but Captain Shoop contacted Dallas businessman Bruce Leadbetter who then contacted Hyatt Hotels Chairman of the Board of Directors Jay Pritzker. Mr. Pritzker was interested in the Morton/Murdock/Shoop Braniff proposal and agreed to discuss a possible deal.
Once convinced, Mr. Pritzker submitted a letter of intent in April 1983 to Judge John Flower's Bankruptcy Court in Ft Worth, Texas, which was administering the Airways and BI Corporation proceedings. Airways management was not interested in the plan but was eventually cajoled into agreeing that it was the best course of action for Airways employees, and creditors. Airways Board of Directors approved the Hyatt plan on May 12, 1983, exactly one year after the cessation of operations of Airways. Creditors and Labor Groups accepted and approved the new plan by September 1983, and the new Braniff was quickly becoming a reality.
If there was ever a group of dedicated employees to admire it is The Braniff Family. Once again, they were called to aid their beloved Braniff and many came to help get the new airline into the sky. Countless hours of free labor were given to the new venture and a renewed Braniff Spirit was in charge now and it was clear that the future would hold only the best for the new Braniff.
