Word: braniff
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...Braniff Flight 200 from Dallas/Fort Worth to New Orleans last Thursday morning was by far the most important in the airline's turbulent history. After being grounded in bankruptcy for almost two years, Braniff was back in business. It took off with freshly painted red-white-and-blue jets, a new major stockholder in the Hyatt Corp., competitive fares, fewer employees and a slimmed-down route system serving 19 cities, vs. 49 before. Said William Slattery, 41, the former TWA executive who heads Braniff: "We are looking to direct ourselves in ways that are so basic that they...
...Braniff's plight was worse than that of most U.S. airlines. Nearly all were ravaged in the late 1970s and early '80s by problems ranging from rising fuel costs to competition from upstart cut-rate carriers. Under the brash leadership of former Chairman Harding Lawrence, Braniff began to add planes and expand routes just as the economy was dropping into recession and oil prices were heading for another sharp increase...
...Braniff was $1 billion in debt and snarled in a suicidal fare war with its archrival and fellow Dallas-based carrier, American Airlines. At one point Braniff asked its employees to forgo temporarily $8 million in pay to help meet other expenses. Then in May 1982, lacking cash for food, fuel and salaries, Braniff became the first U.S. trunk airline to file for bankruptcy. Its planes were flown to Dallas and stored, while its management searched for ways to bring Braniff back to life...
...airline's savior was Chairman Jay Pritzker, 61, of Hyatt, the hotel-operating company. Pritzker and Braniff put together a deal that gave the carrier $70 million to get back into business, while Hyatt got control of 80% of the airline's stock. Everyone, it seems, gave up something. Braniff s workers saw their ranks dwindle from 9,400 to 2,200 and their pay shrivel: pilots agreed to annual salaries of $38,000, vs. an industry average of $68,900. Creditors approved the revival plan, as did most of Braniff's unions. Slattery was recruited from...
...Braniff will again square off against prosperous American, which last week announced that it will begin taking delivery next year of at least 67 new McDonnell Douglas twin-jet airliners. The 142-passenger DC-9 Super 80s are part of a major American expansion drive. The carrier also plans an aggressive program to cut costs and keep ticket prices low. Renewed fare wars and an economic downturn could hurt Braniff, but owning an airline has long been one of Pritzker's ambitions and he intends to stick by the venture. Says he: "I've always flirted with airplanes...