Aerial Warfare: Braniff Won the Battle, But Did Dallas Lose the War?

For once in the city’s history, Dallas civic leadership may have been a bit too enthusiastic about promoting a home town cause. Last fall. Chamber of Commerce chairman Dave Fox. airport board chairman Henry Stuart, and a number of other Dallas businessmen violated a long-standing informal policy of Dallas and Fort Worth leadership. The cities have often lobbied for the establishment of air routes to Dallas-Fort Worth, but have never favored a particular airline to fly them. (The policy was established to avoid partisan tights between Braniff, with headquarters in Dallas, and American Airlines, with major facilities in Fort Worth.) But last fall. Fox. Stuart, and others sent letters and telegrams to Washington urging President Carter to give Braniff the London air route. And sure enough, Carter gave it to Braniff, overriding the Civil Aeronautics Board’s 4-1 vote for Pan American.

The show of favoritism did not sit at all well with Pan American. “We offered Dallas the world,” Pan Am V.P. David Gerwitz says curtly, “and they took Braniff.” In retaliation, Pan Am has cast its blessing on Houston, implementing extensive efforts to make it, at the expense of Dallas, the Southwest’s “gateway city” to Europe. Pan American could have requested a D-FW to New York route, to connect Dallas directly to Pan Am’s many European routes, but instead they applied for permission to link those European flights to Houston. Meanwhile, Braniff had asked for emergency action to grant routes from D-FW to Paris, Madrid. Amsterdam, and Frankfurt in an attempt to fight Pan Am’s Houston efforts.

Not all Dallas leaders who were asked to participate in the initial pro-Braniff blitz did so, feeling that there was no need to antagonize Pan American. But most did. By contrast, most Fort Worth civic leaders, though many of them quietly rooted for Pan Am, abided by the non-partisan policy and emerged clean. And they’ve watched the resulting struggles with an I-told-you-so attitude. The serious question now is whether any other international airline will want to vie for a D-FW route after watch-in the Dallas pro-Braniff lobby in action.