El' Inter Americano vs El'Dorado: Panagra & Braniff 7s

By mid-1950 Braniff had acquired permission from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to compete head to head with Pan Am and the Grace Shipping Company's airline Pan American-Grace Airways (Panagra) on long-haul services to destinations as far south as Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. This direct competition was  far cry from the sedate anti-competitive nature of domestic US services and necessitated the best levels of service and equipment. At the same time it also created serious enmity between the two airlines.

For more on Panagra see El' Pacifico: Panagra's DC-6B Service to South America

Braniff's route stretched from Dallas to Buenos Aires or Rio via Houston, Havana, Panama, Guayaquil, Lima, La Paz and Asuncion. By October 1951 departures were daily - three times weekly to Argentina and four times weekly to Rio. Braniff's equipment was initially the same as Panagra's, Douglas DC-6s but this changed in late 1956.

Panagra itself was not idle. It had already in 1955 enraged its co-owner, Pan Am's Juane Trippe, by initiating a thru-plane interchange agreement with National to New York from Miami connecting with its own long-haul services. In June 1955 it introduced a new type of its own, the Douglas DC-7B, to operate its luxurious all first class 'Interamericano' services and became the first airline to operate the type between the USA and Argentina. Indeed Panagra had been a pioneering trendsetter for many years and would go onto be the first to operate the DC-8 to South America also. Braniff countered the Panagra inter-change with its own using National's rival Eastern Air Lines from Miami to New York.

Braniff's South American network in 1957

Panagra's DC-7Bs were registered N51700-51704 and replaced the standard DC-6s - three of which were leased to Pan Am from 1956-1958. Braniff fought back, going one better by introducing the ultimate piston-liner. It became the first airline to use the new DC-7C in scheduled commercial service in the USA on October 20, 1956. The Douglas prop-liner began its service life on routes between Texas and New York and Texas and Chicago, however they were bought not for domestic services but to operate on Braniff's hard won Latin American network.

Panagra's routes in 1955

The DC-7C in Braniff service was known as the 'El Dorado' (it's DC-6s operated the tourist class El'Conquistador). The DC-7C introduced titanium in civil aircraft construction for the first time and also was equipped with a Bendix C-Band weather radar. As importantly the 10 foot increased wingspan on the Seven Seas over the standard DC-7B significantly increased range (through increased fuel load) and improved take-off performance - especially important from hot and high destinations like La Paz.

The seven aircraft delivered to Braniff were registered N5900-5906 and arrived over the course of eight months from September 1956 until May 1957. Unfortunately one of the aircraft, N5904, was lost after less than a year's service when she crashed on take-off from Miami on a schedule to Panama. The Wright engines of the DC-7C were always temperamental and on this occassion a fire in the no 3 engine forced the crew to attempt a return to the field. Sadly the aircraft didn't make it and lost control in a right turn, crashing into marshland killing 9 passengers of the 24 aboard. The crash was put down to pilot error caused by his pre-occupation with the fire.

The competition between Braniff and Panagra escalated into a battle that at times threatened the passengers themselves. As related in Arthur W DuBois' book 'Behind the Facade and A Peek at Panagra':

"The word came down, "do not co-operate in anyway." One night a Braniff DC-7 was coming in to Guayaquil and the Panagra senior operations man took the instructions literally and he would not let the tower turn on the runway lights. The weather was bad and Braniff ended up landing in Talara, Peru. The Ecuadorians owned the airport and Braniff protested to the Ecuadorian Aviation Authority, who informed Panagra that the next time this happened; they would send the army to turn the lights on."

In Mexico Pan American put construction equipment on the runway after their flight departed so Braniff couldn't land!

In November 1961 another of the Braniff DC-7Cs, this time N5905, was written off, however this time it was caused by a ground fire at Dallas Love-Field. The DC-7Cs actually saw longer service with Braniff than they did with most operators. The type could still be found on international scheduled services like Lima-La Paz as late as May 1965. They were still being used on the inter-change route with Eastern in 1963.

As jets tookover the more prestigious routes the DC-7Cs could increasingly be seen operating domestic routes. The May 1965 timetable shows services like San Antonio-Dallas-Wichita-Kansas-Chicago. By August 1966 the 7Cs were in the twilight of their careers and the timetable shows only a single Houston-San Antonio and Houston-Dallas schedule a day. The aircraft left the fleet for storage at Dallas Love-Field at the end of 1966 and were broken up in 1970.

Panagra's DC-7s had been eclipsed by the new DC-8s from 1960 but remained in service. One of the Panagra DC-7s also suffered a major mishap when in October 1962 N51702 was damaged beyond repair taking off from La Paz. Fortunately there were no fatalities. The DC-7s no doubt gradually found themselves on less important routes but two were still operating for Panagra when it was acquired by Braniff in 1967. Considering the animosity between the airlines the acquisition and merger must have been 'interesting'. The props never operated with Braniff and were all retired upon the takeover.

N51700 actually found herself being used as a Steak House restaurant well into the 1980s located near Interstate 75 near Byron, Georgia. She was known as the DC-7 Steak House but appears to have been broken up in late 1989.

Though obsolete by the early 1960s the Douglas props gave sterling service on the long distance routes to, what were at the time, still remote and exotic destinations, albeit ones served in a style you won't find today!

References

DuBois, Arthur W. Behind the Facade and A Peek at Panagra
Oct 1956. Chicago Tribune. Braniff Puts New DC-7C Into Service
Sept 2009. Braniff DC-7Cs mid-1960s. Airliners.net
JPB Transportation Blog: The Pan Am Series – Part XXIII: Panagra
Aviation Safety.net - N5904
Aviation Safety.net - N5905
Timetable images are as always from the excellent http://www.timetableimages.com