Category: Boeing 727

The Elegance Campaign: Braniff’s Ultra Look

20/7/2018

The rise and fall of Harding Lawrence’s Braniff International is so well known that in aviation it has become something of a byword for mismanagement and a case study for the impact of deregulation. In many ways it was a harbinger of the bloodbath that the 1980s would become for US carriers however in others it was unique. Nonetheless back in 1978 everything seemed rosy at Braniff and the airline would celebrate its Golden anniversary with the introduction of a new look.

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Air West Pt1: The Airline That Had to Happen

20/3/2018

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As the 1960s drew to a close the CAB in the USA was looking for ways to wean the local service airlines off of subsidies. This meant a gradual movement away from serving local communities and instead using economies of scale to serve wider regions. The result was mergers, including the unique tri-merger that created 'The airline that had to happen' - Air West!

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Independence Pt2: The Atlanta Bicentennials

5/12/2017

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As far as I'm aware none of the other US airlines went as far as ONA and Braniff to paint fleet members for the 1976 US Bicentennial celebrations and only three others applied any outward signs of participation at all. Which airlines were these? Interestingly all 3 were southerners including the 2 giants from Atlanta. I assume it was no coincidence that both of them decided to celebrate in style.

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Bad Luck Blues: Braniff's Dallas Cowboys Jet

24/7/2017

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By late 1981 Braniff International was in severe trouble. Braniff’s President and Chairman Harding Lawrence had believed that airline deregulation would not be a success and decided that Braniff’s response would be to grow aggressively and build marketshare before re-regulation. The result was Braniff spent money like water on unprofitable expansion whilst at the same time being taken to the cleaners by its Dallas neighbour American Airlines. Add in a major economic downturn and things were not looking good. Even so Braniff still had time for its hometown football team.

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Tsuru in Full Flight: JAL in the 1960s

12/6/2017

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The first civil jetliners outside the Soviet Union were designed for long range travel. That left many airlines, including JAL, looking for smaller jets to complement their DC-8s and 707s. JAL identified two medium range types from new manufacturers but soon it would find demand out-stretching the new types and would begin the search for widebody transports.

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TAESA Pt3: DC-9 Disaster

11/2/2017

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TAESA had come through the crisis of the mid-90s albeit with a large debt burden, modified ownership and a much older fleet of aircraft. Moving into 1998 TAESA had a bright new livery and began to take delivery of new aircraf too. If it could just capitalise on this then it still could be the standard bearer for competition in the Mexican market.

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I-Trijets: Alitalia's 727s

8/10/2016

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Alitalia saw massive growth during the 1960s and 70s and acquired a large fleet of jets to service this. Despite these acquisitions by the early 1970s the airline was looking for a new medium range jet to build its European fleet around and fill the gap between its DC-9s and larger, increasingly obsolete DC-8s. Despite the arrival of the new Airbus and a larger variant of the DC-9 it was instead to Boeing that the carrier looked.

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Colombian Peril: Avianca's Tragic 727-021s

24/6/2016

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Few nations can stake a claim to the dubious honour of being the least peaceful and most dangerous places to live, however unfortunately for Colombia it could lay claim to be a contender for much of the past 70 years. Even without the country's ongoing conflict operating in its relatively low technology and challenging environment was difficult enough. These factors have as you'd expect had an impact on the operations of Colombia's airlines and can be seen in the history of a select batch of Avianca's 727s.

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Ansett's 1980s Re-equipment Binge

17/2/2016

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Ansett entered the 1980s under new ownership and with a renewed sense of aggressive competition between it and TAA. Despite better cost control it also went on an aircraft buying binge, re-equipping its entire fleet with new Boeings and Airbuses. Though to a degree a necessity the over-ambitious and poorly thought through policy became a factor in the airline's eventual collapse.

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Quebecair Pt2: 1970-1980 Charters & Troubles

2/7/2015

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Quebecair entered the 1970s as a well run and respected regional airline focused primarily on scheduled inter-Canadian services. A significant part of the other regional airline's operations since the early 60s had been holiday charters to Florida and Caribbean. Compared to Nordair and PWA, Quebecair had been relatively slow to enter the market. That would change in the 1970s but so would the airline's financial position. Troubling times were ahead...

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Braniff Jellybeans Pt6 - Beige, Ochre & Turquoise

21/6/2015

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Probably the most obscure of the primary colours used in the Jellybean era are Beige, Ochre and Turquoise. The funny thing is that both beige and ochre were actually two of the commonest of the colours used and lasted beyond the H&G colour switch of 1967 - the only original Jellybeans to do so.

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Braniff Jellybeans Pt5: Yellows

19/6/2015

1 Comment

As with the oranges the yellow Jellybeans made a particularly attractive aircraft combination and also like the oranges two shades were used over the 1965-1971 Jellybean era. In addition like the oranges the two shades, though similar, did look different in service and can be told apart if you know what to look for.

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Braniff Jellybean Pt3: Red

16/6/2015

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In comparison to the greens and blues red is an easy Jellybean colour since there was only one version used. In fact red didn't even feature as a 'End of the Plain Plane' shade until the 1967 H&G refresh. All the earlier 7 shades were much more pastelly. Despite this late start red would go on to be one of the most popular of the colours used and I must say it does look superb.

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Braniff Jellybeans Pt2: The Blues

15/6/2015

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Braniff's brilliant Alexander Girard designed Jellybeans were loud and proud but for the colour-blind aviation enthusiast sitting in 2015 it isn't half difficult to work out which shades were which. Nowhere is this more difficult than with the blues, since there were no less than four different shades throughout the Jellybean era. Fortunately John Evanich III (JEE3) over at www.airlinercafe.com's forum has done a quite astounding job of sorting it all out. Looking at my Braniff blues it appears that Aeroclassics could have done with checking out his work!

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Braniff Jellybeans Pt1: The Greens

14/6/2015

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In 1965 Harding Lawrence was appointed to the Presidency of Braniff International. Up till then it had been a well run but relatively small trunk airline. Lawrence had other ideas and the wild ride that characterised his tenure would change Braniff from an also ran to a colourful and vibrant airline. Unfortunately Lawrence would also prove to be the downfall of Braniff but that wasn't until 1982. First there was the 'End of the Plain Plane' era.

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The Elegance Campaign: Braniff’s Ultra Look

Air West Pt1: The Airline That Had to Happen

Independence Pt2: The Atlanta Bicentennials

Bad Luck Blues: Braniff's Dallas Cowboys Jet

Tsuru in Full Flight: JAL in the 1960s

TAESA Pt3: DC-9 Disaster

I-Trijets: Alitalia's 727s

Colombian Peril: Avianca's Tragic 727-021s

Ansett's 1980s Re-equipment Binge

Quebecair Pt2: 1970-1980 Charters & Troubles

Braniff Jellybeans Pt6 - Beige, Ochre & Turquoise

Braniff Jellybeans Pt5: Yellows

Braniff Jellybean Pt3: Red

Braniff Jellybeans Pt2: The Blues

Braniff Jellybeans Pt1: The Greens

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