I was a kid in Dallas when Braniff was just about ready to fail. My first 747 flight was a Braniff 30 minute flight (I believe on Big Orange herself) around Dallas and Fort Worth.
I was only 10 or 11, so I don't know what the story behind the flights were, but they were probably a last-ditch effort at getting revenue from all those planes they had ordered and couldn't afford to/get approval to fly.
My Dad used to bring home those bright orange playing cards with international symbols and phrases and all sorts of other neat stuff from Braniff flights. Some people wish they'd kept their baseball cards. These are the things I wish I had kept.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by philforest:
Flight on Southwest from Houston to Dallas in the '60s:
We take off and the beverage cart comes down the aisle (remember, this is a one-class airline even then). I order vodka on the rocks (my Russian language training taking over); the stew hand me a glass and holds up a half-gallon bottle, says, "say when." Then comes back I don't remember how many times during this short flight. We land in Dallas, and I hear one of the guys in the row behind me say (in a slur that can't be reproduced on a typewriter): "Why don't we jus' stay on board an' go back t' Houston?"</font>
Are you sure this wasn't Texas Air or later than the 60's? Southwest didn't come around until the early 70's.