Word: braniff
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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There were smiles and handshakes and promises of success aplenty last March when Braniff airlines resumed flying after being grounded in bankruptcy proceedings for more than l½ years. But the Dallas-based carrier, which converted to a discount airline last September, has not regained its cruising speed. Last week, in an apparent act of desperation, Braniff said it would cut its fleet of 30 jetliners to ten and indicated that it may lay off as many as 1,200 of its 2,100 workers. The carrier will halt service on Nov. 5 to ten cities now on its route...
...Braniff hopes that its retrenchment will stanch losses of about $80 million that have piled up since the airline returned to the skies. To raise additional cash, the company will sell leases on nine of its twelve gates at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport for $20.5 million to archrival American, and plans to lease ten of its jets to Northeastern International Airways. Braniff Chairman Jay Pritzker hopes that the slimmed-down carrier will now be able to fly out of trouble, but the cuts may be the beginning of the end for the new Braniff...
...They range from no-frills discounters like People Express, the fastest-growing company in aviation history, to tiny Regent Air, which plies its passengers on flights from Los Angeles to Newark with caviar, lobster and French champagne. Not all of them have been profitable. Old and new carriers, including Braniff and Air Florida, went bankrupt by expanding routes too fast. Said Daryl Wyckoff, a professor of transportation at Harvard Business School: "The airlines were always ending up like my beagle, 15 blocks from home and panting...
...Florida's filing was the third by a large carrier since deregulation began. A slimmed-down Braniff returned to the air last March after entering bankruptcy proceedings in 1982. Last September Continental Airlines first filed for bankruptcy, then voided its union contracts and immediately resumed service, all within three days. Continental is continuing to operate under court jurisdiction while it works out a plan to repay its debts...
...past two years, airlines have been avoiding the price wars that helped send Braniff into bankruptcy and several other carriers to the brink. But last week new skirmishes broke out. Regular coach fares between the East and West Coasts have been averaging $367 each way on United, American and Trans World Airlines. People Express, the three-year-old upstart discounter, set off the latest round of cuts by having a limited number of Boeing 747 flights between Newark and Los Angeles for $149 during the day and $119 at night. Said Larry Martin, a general manager at People...