The Oddball in the Herd: When Southwest Flew a Braniff 727 (N406BN)

[@drewintampa]

I was a flight attendant with American for MANY years. I LOVED the 727. You never had to worry about a mechanical delay. They were the work horse and backbone of our fleet. I really liked the mini galley in the back of the plane because it was easy to bring passengers who were seated aft beverages and food (yes, FOOD in those days. lol). I was sad to see them go.

[@AirlinerHistory]

They were fun little hot rods. I preferred them over the later 757s

[@drewintampa]

@@AirlinerHistory A close second for me. The 757's were rockets. The pilots loved them for speed but they were really hard on flight attendants to work on because of their length and being a single aisle aircraft. I am a sucker for airliners. Period. LOL

[@AirlinerHistory]

@@drewintampa I always found the 757s a little narrow for me, although I imagine the dimentiosn of the seats were similar if not the same to the 727s. I can imagine the Flight Attendants being annoyed with their length, especially the -300 models

[@drewintampa]

@@AirlinerHistory You can't blame the passengers. They would be more than finished with their meals and we were still serving in the back. Plus trying to use the lavs in the back...forget it.

[@Rexag]

The FOOD... yes.... served on china plates with silverware and glasses.... bet that was heavy as hell handing it across three people.... but whatta time to fly.... now it's just not fun...boring two engines and rowdy rude people in clothes way too small and flip flops. ....you had to wear a tie back in the days... it was just like going to church ... but more fun.

[@Rexag]

727 is the most beautiful aircraft ever to fly the skies.... I always wanted a 727 to pull up to the gate when I was traveling...be it Delta, Eastern, National, Braniff, or Continental ..and it happened a few times but more times it was a DC-8 but it had to have a black nose... funny the things come roaring back when you see these clips.... Love classic airlines and I miss the loud airports.

[@AirlinerHistory]

It was definitely a stunner to look at, a hot serious hot rod vibes

[@FireDawg276]

I lost count of how many operators that particular jet had. Crazy.

[@AirlinerHistory]

Operators and Owners, I had to work through which was what to plan out this video

[@FireDawg276]

@@AirlinerHistoryExcellent research for a quality and informative video. 👍🏽👍🏽

[@antonyh37]

I think Southwest should buy it and mount it in Dallas as memorabilia from its history.

[@AirlinerHistory]

that would be an interesting add to any museum they made

[@michaelmyers2865]

People Express leased 6 B-727s to Southwest 1983-1985. PE needed the cash flow, Southwest needed the capacity. The initial leases include flight engineers as SWA had none trained at the time.

[@retiredsmitty9692]

Great video! Reminded me of the only time I ever flew on a Southwest livery 727 back in '84 or '85 - El Paso to San Antonio. It was memorable for a couple of reasons...I remember being surprised by boarding a 727 vs a 73 since I was flying SWA and the fact that due to weather (major thunderstorm activity around SAT) we diverted to Corpus Christi - landed there, did not deplane, waited for the weather to clear and then up and back to San Antonio. Bumpy flight but the billowing clouds were beautiful. The last 727 I flew on I guess was one of the last that Continental flew back around '95-'97 or so...from McAllen to IAH. I remember it being very smooth and quiet. The late and great Len Morgan (a contributing editor for Flying years ago) wrote a great piece about flying the 3 holer.... Now I'm feeling old.... Cheers

[@AirlinerHistory]

I know about feeling old, I recall flying DC-8s and 727s to visit relatives in the Kansas City area as a child in the ealry 1980's now I am in my 50s :p

[@afterhourshotrods6882]

I worked on this A/C when it flew pax for Arrow Air it's kinda funny we were a Cargo only airline at that point and 'Ol George Batchler wanted to get back into the pax charter biz after the air disaster in Newfoundland. And then this plane was converted to cargo. Lots of history on this plane I never knew. Thanks for sharing it. Cheers.

[@AirlinerHistory]

Ok, I didn't know it was a cargo hauler for Arrow. I couldn't find much of it's time with Arrow, and I had to photoshop the registration number to make things look right for this video. Like to learn something new every day.

[@ehh300]

I wish there was a way to save it.

[@AirlinerHistory]

At least at this point it is still around to save. Convincing some one to save is it is the difficult part

[@ssnerd583]

....W0W....What a nightmare of maintenance history and records!!! oi....no wonder it wasn't parted out much sooner.

[@waltonwarrior7428]

I remember flying on a Southwest Airlines 727. I always liked the 727 but the 737 makes more sense for Southwest Airlines.

[@bret9741]

Loved the 727. As a matter fact.. I miss all the Tri-Jets.

[@AirlinerHistory]

I always thought 727s and dc-9s as hot rods of the air. They were always fun rides

[@brentboswell1294]

ELP-LAX was one of the routes that the 727's flew on...I remember one flight on a 727 on WN 😊

[@AirlinerHistory]

A unique ride on a then unique airplane in that fleet. I am kind of jealous :D

[@EdExTechur]

Didn't they fly a few MD-80's briefly after they bought Muse Airlines? I used both for a while.

[@AirlinerHistory]

I don't see any on their list of aircraft on RZjets.net. from what I see, looks like Muse changed it's name to Transtar after being acquired, but they flew as a separate airline till around 1986.

[@Canadianaviator2]

I have this model!

[@MorganBrown]

I guess Dominicana appreciated Braniff’s cool taste in colors

[@joeg5414]

I think I've flown on 727s more than any other airplane. MD-80 probably a close 2nd. I flew more in the 90s/2000s than I do now.

[@jeffreyanderson1851]

It spent as much time being repainted as flying 😳

[@cameraman655]

1:56 Those are painted in the ‘Flying Colors’ livery of the 70s, the ‘Jellybeans’ were pastel-shaded liveries with a white tail, with ‘BI’ in bold black lettering. I don't believe (though not 100% certain). Braniff did not operate the 200 series until the 1970s and only one, if memory serves was painted in the ‘Jellybean’ scheme. Still a great video, I vividly recall this passing over my head at Bachman Lake on the approach to DAL as a youngster when my Grandfather took me fishing. Probably the best ‘fishin hole’ in all of Texas…

[@AirlinerHistory]

I may blend the 60's and 70's liveries into variations on teh jely bean theme. Probably not technincally correct. but oh bot were those Braniffs bright! :

[@eddieraffs5909]

At least the 3-holer missed the Newark, NJ based "People's Express".

[@AirlinerHistory]

That would be an interesting look

[@garymathis1042]

I flew Braniff 727s many times.

[@tomsamuelson8512]

I thought Southwest flew a couple of 727's...maybe not......

[@thud9797]

They ended up flying a total of seven 727s, the first one leased from Braniff in 1979 then two leased from People's Express in 1983 then four more from them in 1984. During 1985 they were all returned and that was the end of it.

[@glenwoodriverresidentsgrou136]

I was a student in Houston when Southwest was getting started and remember that the flew 727s early on. Initially shuttling between only Dallas Love, Houston Hobby, and San Antonio, one way fares between these cities were $25, no reservations required or available.

[@davidegan3280]

how thick is the layers of paint on this thing?

[@AirlinerHistory]

If it was house paint, it would be unflyable now. Luckily old layers are generally stripped off. Except for that period between Braniff II and Dominicana :D

[@scotttild]

Southwest needs to diversify, they need alternatives to Boeing if they want to grow more.

[@AirlinerHistory]

Have one plane type, means one set of tools for all your maintenance divisions, even if the Max's are wildly different than 200's

[@andyerwin3535]

With one type of airframe, it keeps all of the pilots availiable to fly all of their planes, it’s called a “type rating”. It saves a ton of money

[@Lil_orange999]

Day 3 of waiting

[@Lil_orange999]

@@markmonse5285 i didn't ask i commented how many days i have been waiting for the preserved dc 10 video