Originally Posted by
JoeDTW
Braniff is correct....
Although Braniff had only six flights to / from DTW in 1977, these six flights were the ONLY Braniff flights in the 400 series. Although many airlines dedicate a block of flight numbers to a specific region (most of AA's flights in the 600 series were to / from the Caribbean, most Pan Am / United flights in the 800 series were to / from Asia or Australia, and most Braniff / EA / AA flights in the 900 series were to / from South America, for example), it's pretty unusual for an airline to dedicate an entire block of flight numbers to a city where they had a small presence.
This brings back a memory from the winter of 1972. I was getting ready to fly from Detroit using a standby "youth fare" (remember those?) ticket and my plan was to depart in the early evening on American to Dallas Love Field and then connect to Braniff International for a flight from DAL to Houston Intercontinental.
Well, the American flight departed full so as a standby I got left behind. However, a kindly AA gate agent then informed me that it was her understanding that Braniff had a flight from DTW from DAL that had been delayed several hours "so why don't you head over to the Braniff counter and see if you can get on that flight?"
I did so....and just in time as the Braniff flight was getting ready for its late departure. I remember walking briskly outside in snowy conditions to the colorful BN B727-100 (no jetway and the airplane was parked a fair distance from the terminal). And upon entering the aircraft I discovered the flight only had a handful of passengers on board. Detroit was still a new destination for Braniff back then and this fact coupled with the delayed nature of the flight may have accounted for the very light pax load. Anyway, a very attractive young lady flight attendant took a liking to me and asked me soon after the seat belt sign was turned off following take off if I would like to move up to the first class cabin. Of course! And I was the only passenger in the front cabin at that point. I also remember being served a nice dinner accompanied by what I thought was an excellent red wine from South America (I knew nothing about wine back then). It was a great flight and that young Braniff flight attendant was a real sweetheart! And I also seem to recall the BN flight number was indeed in the 400 series.
