Come Fly With Me to The Braniff International History and Architecture Conference

Once upon a time, flying was a glamorous event, and flying on Braniff International Airlines was the pinnacle of stylish travel. If you never experienced the glam years of travel, don’t know anything about Braniff, or simply want to relive the glory days, you’ll want to attend their upcoming conference on September 14.

No other airline featured airplanes coated in jelly bean colors or painted by the magnificent artist Alexander Calder. No other airline clad their flight attendants in groovy designer uniforms by Emilio Pucci and Halston. No other airline had Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol pitching their tagline” When You’ve Got It Flaunt It” in commercials. 

There was also no other airline that had cooler furniture in their terminal waiting areas. Alexander Girard, one of the most influential designers of the 1960s, created iconic looks for more than 17,000 Braniff items, from the lobby furniture to the blankets and sugar packets. 

Braniff Was a Future-Forward Airline

Girard and Pucci were hired to create a new look for Braniff International by Jack Tinker & Partners account executive Mary Wells Lawrence. She was the branding genius behind transforming the airline from a relatively small name to a globally recognized brand. Lawrence came up with the famous tagline “The End of the Plain Plane.”

The glory days of flying on Braniff International may be over, but the brand is thriving thanks to one dedicated individual, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Braniff International, Ben Cass.

Cass was always a self-proclaimed airline geek. When Braniff ceased operating in 1982, his father bought the airline’s assets. These included a treasure trove of historic documents dating from the airline’s founding in 1928, models of the famous Calder planes, waiting area furniture, and licensing agreements. Cass has it all. He’s not only dedicated to keeping Braniff’s history alive but also to instilling a love of aviation in future generations. 

“We donated the left side of our fully- operational Braniff 747 concept cabin to the DISD Transportation and Logistics Clusters at DISD’s Career Institute North and the Charmaine & Robert Price Career Institute South,” Cass said.  

Though Braniff International Airlines may no longer grace the skies, its legacy continues to soar. And now, you can be a part of it at the Braniff History and Architecture Conference on September 14. The Braniff History and Architecture Conference will feature the legacy and history of the Braniff era in Dallas, as told by those who lived it.

Featured speakers include former Braniff pilot Bill Martin, who has some tales to tell about the Dallas Cowboys as the airline was their official carrier.

Braniff was the only United States-based airline to fly the supersonic Concord. The youngest pilot to ever fly Concord, John Baganz, will be interviewed by Henry Harteveldt, travel industry analyst and President of the Atmosphere Research Group.

You can also hear about Mary Wells Lawrence’s significant impact on Braniff and the aviation industry, creating a vision for branding still emulated by airlines today.

Meg Williams will discuss how her company, Stick No Bills, will ensure those uber-cool airline posters can be on your wall next week. Patrick Carreno, Director of Aviation, City of Dallas, will offer insights into Dallas Love Field and the future, including updates on both DAL and Dallas Executive. 

David Preziosi, President and CEO of the Texas Historical Foundation, will present the Architecture of Braniff International Hotels in Latin America, a rare peek into an often overlooked part of Braniff’s legacy.

“The cultural effect Braniff had on the airline industry was incredible,” Preziosi said. “They redefined travel and how an airline should operate and look. Braniff made flying popular and accessible and became a part of pop culture at the time.”

This is a can’t-miss event for anyone interested in fashion, advertising, marketing, design, and, of course, aviation and history!  Get your tickets at BraniffInternational.com. This is only the fourth conference to take place, and if past attendance tells us anything, you need to book a ticket now!