urn:taro:utexas.cah.02695 A Guide to the Braniff Airlines Bankruptcy Case Files, 1980-1983 Original EAD encoding by Laurel Rozema according to TARO 2 EAD 2002 Editing Instructions. May 2011 Finding aid written in English. Descriptive Summary Braniff Airways -- Archives. Lebl, Duane Charles. Braniff Airlines bankruptcy case files 1980-1983 Materials are written in English. 85-227 5 ft. Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin Comprising photocopies of applications, statements, proceedings, articles, and additional legal records gathered by Duane Lebl, the Braniff Airlines Bankruptcy Case Files, 1980-1983, chronicle the bankruptcy court case for Braniff International Airways in the early 1980s, especially the administration of the airline prior to its closure. Historical Note

Two years after founding another airline, Paul and Tom Braniff established Braniff Airways, Inc., which originally flew passengers between Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Wichita Falls, Texas. By its 20th anniversary in 1950, the airline had moved its headquarters to Dallas, Texas, and had launched international flights to Canada, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. In 1964, Troy Post of the Greatamerica Corporation purchased Braniff Airways, which was re-incorporated in 1973 as the Braniff International Corporation to include Braniff Airways, Braniff Hotels, Braniff Realty, and Braniff Education Systems. Following the U. S. Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, the airline expanded its number of airplanes and destinations, including the first Concorde service in the United States. This increased the company’s debt, which eventually led to Braniff’s closure in May 1982. The next year, Jay Pritzker of Hyatt Hotels reorganized the airline as the Dalfort Corporation, which operated Braniff, Inc., until it too filed for bankruptcy in 1990. Jeffery Chodorow and Scot Spencer then bought the airlines and subsequently stole $14 million from the company, resulting in its end in 1992 and jail terms for the two men.

Sources:

Braniff Collection, History of Aviation Collection in Special Collections, Eugene McDermott Library, The University of Texas at Dallas. Accessed May 4, 2011. http://www.utdallas.edu/library/collections/speccoll/hacpdf/Braniff.pdf.

Watts, B. Braniff International Airways, History. The Braniff Pages. Accessed May 4, 2011. http://www.braniffpages.com/.

 Scope and Contents

Comprising photocopies of applications, statements, proceedings, articles, and additional legal records gathered by Duane Lebl, the Braniff Airlines Bankruptcy Case Files, 1980-1983, chronicle the bankruptcy court case for Braniff International Airways in the early 1980s. The collection concerns the administration of the airline prior to its closure in 1982, the affect of the bankruptcy on employees and other companies, as well as plans by Hyatt Hotels to acquire and reorganize Braniff Airways. Additionally, the collection includes Lebl’s notes on the case and meetings with executives at the airline that he made while researching the bankruptcy for his University of Texas at Austin master’s thesis.

 Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research use.

 Index Terms Subjects (Persons) Lebl, Duane Charles. Subjects (Organizations) Braniff Airways -- Archives. Subjects Bankruptcy -- United States -- Cases. Places Dallas (Tex.) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources. Preferred Citation

Braniff Airlines Bankruptcy Case Files, 1980-1983, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.

 Processing Information

Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project, 2009-2011.

 Detailed Description of the Papers Contact repository for inventory.