HISTORY GUEST Braniff
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WHILE MANY OTHER extinct airlines have long since flown into faded memory , the original Braniff International Airways ( BN , often referred to as BI ) still enjoys a prominent place in aviation lore , a full 42 years after its final approach in 1982 . The famous Flying Colors no longer soar across the skies , but very much continue to do so not just in the past but very much in the present , thanks to a small corps of passionate people dedicated to keeping the story alive .
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2 Maintenance department personnel take a moment to model the new uniforms that haute couturier Emilio Pucci designed for them in the summer of 1965 . The uniforms are color coded and striped according to department and job responsibility .
3 A colorful array featuring the ‘ end of the plain plane ’ scheme . From the Boeing 720 to the jet ramp , the new look was everywhere and was featured in this photo — shot on a whitepowdered ground cover to intensify the bold looks and style of Braniff International .
4 Braniff International Boeing 720- 027 registered as N7076 is photographed during air-to-air photo shot in the summer of 1965 . This was the only aircraft painted in the lavender / periwinkle blue solid color scheme . The color was quickly ruled out once it was discovered that the colors of purple and black together were associated with evil connotations in Latin American countries .
The original Braniff International introduced a groundbreaking panache to the then very traditional image of the air transport business , shocking the industry and propelling the low-key Texas-based carrier to worldwide fame .
When Harding Lawrence assumed control of Braniff in 1965 , the company was little known outside the United States heartland and Latin America . To make a splash , the airline transformed — literally — from conservative to colorful and couture . Lawrence famously hired the New York advertising agency Jack Tinker and Partners , an employer of Mary Wells , who had made a name for herself in Madison Avenue ’ s allmale ‘ Mad Men ’ era .
Wells created the legendary ‘ The End of the Plain Plane ’ campaign and injected sex appeal into the heretofore staid skies . Most notably , Braniff commissioned Alexander Girard to paint jets like jellybeans with palettes of bright and vibrant colors . Militaristic liveries gave way to a rainbow of beige , ochre , orange , turquoise , blue , yellow , and lavender fuselages . Cabin
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