Braniff History Today - 12/8/1977

BRANIFF HISTORY TODAY - On this day, Thursday, December 8, 1977, Braniff International increased its service between the US Mainland and Latin America, specifically offering more direct flights to Argentina and Chile. Braniff's East and West Coast Gateway cities received the improved schedules to and from Latin America.

Braniff's new Latin America service was operated with luxurious McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-62 Intercontinental Jets, the workhorse of the Dallas-based luxury carrier's Latin America Division since the summer of 1967. Increased flights from the East (New York) and West (San Francisco and Los Angeles) Coast Gateways increased from seven weekly Super 62 jet flights to ten and the first Non-Stop flight from Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile, was also inaugurated. San Francisco passengers were able to enjoy single-stop service to Santiago and two-stop service to Buenos Aires, Argentina:

Los Angeles - New Non-Stop to Santiago, Chile

San Francisco - New single-stop flight to Santiago, via Los Angeles

Los Angeles - New single-stop service to Buenos Aires, Argentina

San Francisco - New two-stop service to Buenos Aires
Service from Los Angeles International Airport and New York Kennedy Airport to Buenos Aires, Argentina, increased from eight flights weekly to ten with five of those flights operating from Kennedy via Miami International Airport. Three of the ten flights operated from San Francisco and Los Angles while seven operated from New York Kennedy:

San Francisco and Los Angeles - Three weekly flights to Buenos Aires, Argentina

New York Kennedy - Seven weekly flights to Buenos Aires, with five via Miami

Braniff service to Santiago, Chile, included four flights each week from New York Kennedy and six were offered from Miami International Airport. Three of the Miami-Santiago flights originated in New York. On the West Coast, Braniff offered three flights to Santiago, that originated at San Francisco and stopped at Los Angeles International Airport:

New York Kennedy - Four flights each week to Santiago, Chile, with three stopping at Miami

Miami International - Six flights weekly to Santiago

San Francisco and Los Angeles - Three flights each week to Santiago with SFO passengers stopping at LAX

In addition, one of the five Miami to Santiago flights stopped at Panama City before continuing on to La Paz. This new service was the fastest from Florida to Bolivia, with a flying time of only 7 hours and 40 minutes and it continued on to Santiago, in a quick 2 hours and 30 minutes:

Miami International - One flight each week to Santiago with stops at Panama City and La Paz

Miami - Fastest service from Florida to Bolivia

La Paz - Fastest service from Bolivia to Chile

One of Braniff's three flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Santiago and Buenos Aires, stopped at Guayaquil, Ecuador, before proceeding to Chile. This new service provided Non-Stop service between Ecuador and Chile. Guayaquil is the principal Ecuadorean seaport while Santiago is the capital of Chile:

San Francisco and Los Angeles - One of three flights operates to Santiago, via Guayaquil, with continuing service to Buenos Aires

Guayaquil - Non-Stop service each week to Santiago, with continuing service to Buenos Aires

Photo: Braniff International McDonnell-Douglas DC-8-62CF Intercontinental Jet registered as N1807 is arriving at Miami International Airport in 1979. The four-engine jetliner is painted in the 1978 Harper and George/Cars and Concepts/Halston Burgundy Ultra Color Scheme with Cream, Orange and Burgundy Power Paint Stripes and Braniff Ultra Script in Cream. On rear portion of the upper fuselage a paint repair has been made with the rare Sparkling Burgundy Ultra paint.

Braniff Airways Foundation
Copyright 2012 2017

Photo: Photographer Stuart Moult
Braniff Flying Colors Collection