I am curiuos as to why Braniff did not keep their fleet of Boeing 707-327Cs for their routes
to South America and decided on Douglas DC-8-62s. Throghout the 1970s Braniff placed all Boeing 727s
on Domestic and DC-8-62s to South America and Big Orange DFW-HNL. Some of the DC-8-62s came from
the merger with Panagra in 1967.
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- WA707atMSP
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RE: Braniff's South American Network,
| Quoting doulasc (Thread starter): Some of the DC-8-62s came from the merger with Panagra in 1967. |
Panagra ordered -62s before the merger, but none were delivered. All - 62s were delivered directly to Braniff.
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- SFOThinker
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RE: Braniff's South American Network,
When Braniff made its big move into Europe from a Boston hub, the DC 8 62s were frequently used. The expansion was a disaster. I was once the sole passenger on a feeder flight into Boston soon after the flights were begun.
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- DTWPurserBoy
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RE: Braniff's South American Network,
The DC-8-62 had better high/hot operating capabilities than the B707-300 series and a longer range which suited BN's need for long South American non-stops.
The 707-327C's were purchased expressly for the Pacific MAC flights during the Vietnam War. 727-127's were used on Atlantic MAC flights. As the war was winding down, Braniff began to slowly sell off the 707 fleet in favor of the DC-8-62's.
Braniff was going to have to replace the DC-8's very shortly and that would have been a capital outlay they simply could not afford. The examined both the DC-10-30 and L-1011 but the company collapsed before a decision had to be made. Braniff dragged their heels on renovating the cabin interiors of the -62 fleet, not doing anything until the late '70's when they finally enclosed the overhead bins and installed what would now be a primitive entertainment system--pull down screens and a few channels of music listened to through a hollow plastic tube. But the -62 did the job operationally and that was more important. They bought two from SAS and two from Alitalia in the late '70's to augment the original fleet and add capacity. Once in a while they showed up on a domestic segment, one being MSP-MCI-DFW-MEX-DFW-MCI-MSP.
In hindsight, I think Braniff would have gone with the DC-10-30 due to its range. Their decision to buy the SP's was a major mistake.
The 707-327C's were purchased expressly for the Pacific MAC flights during the Vietnam War. 727-127's were used on Atlantic MAC flights. As the war was winding down, Braniff began to slowly sell off the 707 fleet in favor of the DC-8-62's.
Braniff was going to have to replace the DC-8's very shortly and that would have been a capital outlay they simply could not afford. The examined both the DC-10-30 and L-1011 but the company collapsed before a decision had to be made. Braniff dragged their heels on renovating the cabin interiors of the -62 fleet, not doing anything until the late '70's when they finally enclosed the overhead bins and installed what would now be a primitive entertainment system--pull down screens and a few channels of music listened to through a hollow plastic tube. But the -62 did the job operationally and that was more important. They bought two from SAS and two from Alitalia in the late '70's to augment the original fleet and add capacity. Once in a while they showed up on a domestic segment, one being MSP-MCI-DFW-MEX-DFW-MCI-MSP.
In hindsight, I think Braniff would have gone with the DC-10-30 due to its range. Their decision to buy the SP's was a major mistake.
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RE: Braniff's South American Network,
| Quoting SFOThinker (Reply 2): When Braniff made its big move into Europe from a Boston hub, the DC 8 62s were frequently used. The expansion was a disaster. I was once the sole passenger on a feeder flight into Boston soon after the flights were begun. |
Not quite true. The DC-8-62's were initially used BOS-BRU-BOS but Braniff soon dropped the route. AMS and ORY flights did ok seasonally and for a while they operated with a stop in BRU which helped loads but increased costs. These were all 747 flights including the 747-200C leased from World with the nose cargo door.
The 747's to FRA did very well. I was based in BOS from June of '79 until they decided to close the base in the spring of '81. By that point interest rates had skyrocketed and BN decided to drop all but DFW-LGW and DFW-FRA.
[Edited 2015-06-24 13:43:14]
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RE: Braniff's South American Network,
| Quoting SFOThinker (Reply 2): |
after Braniff shut down in 1982 then didn't Northwest Orient start a Boston-Europe network.
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- DTWPurserBoy
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RE: Braniff's South American Network,
| Quoting doulasc (Reply 5): after Braniff shut down in 1982 then didn't Northwest Orient start a Boston-Europe network. |
Some European flights either originated in BOS or were a tag on to a JFK flight. BOS-SNN-PIK was VERY popular and always full. Some days it went JFK-BOS-PIK. We had one we called the "Fjord Hop." It went JFK-OSL-CPH-ARN and we were zombie tired by the time we got to ARN. They also flew BOS-SNN and BOS-LGW. We had no crew base in BOS so we deadhead back and forth on the Eastern Shuttle.
[Edited 2015-06-24 13:47:52]
[Edited 2015-06-24 13:48:59]
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RE: Braniff's South American Network,
| Quoting DTWPurserBoy (Reply 4): |
I recall the DC 8 62 being used on an ORY flight to Boston that was scheduled as a 747. I suspect it was because the load was so light.
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