Paul Revere Braniff - Biography

Biography

Paul Revere Braniff was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He grew during the early era of aviation, and, as a youngster, became fascinated with the new way of transport.

Paul Braniff joined the United States Army during World War I as a mechanic and private, in 1917. He went to France, becoming a corporal, then a temporary sergeant. In France, he learned to shoot, becoming an avid gunman, although he never used this ability other than for warfare.

After being honorably discharged from the Army, he joined brother Tom in an insurance company that carried the family's name. Paul Revere, however, kept dreaming about aviation all along; he got a pilot's license in 1923, obtaining the license from Orville Wright himself. In 1924, Mr. Braniff was able to buy his own aircraft.

Paul Braniff began his own, small flying company soon after, eventually helping convince Tom Braniff and other investors to bring money and form the Oklahoma aero club, in 1928. Reserved for use of the six investors, the company was registered as the Paul R. Braniff Airlines, thus marking the birth of Braniff International Airways. Paul Revere Braniff flew the company's first flight. At the time, the airline was very involved with the National Transcontinental air race.

In 1929, Paul Revere Braniff left the United States to go to Mexico to help someone build a struggling Mexican airline company (apparently this person was Alberto Braniff, but no evidence of this, nor of Alberto Braniff being related to the American Braniff brothers, has ever been reported). In November of that year, the airline he helped form had merged with Universal Airlines, to become a real airline company, acquiring that airline's planes and setting up headquarters in St. Louis.

Paul Revere Braniff remained in Mexico until 1930. While in Mexico, he gained airline industry expertise, and he returned to the United States with innovative ideas for Braniff International, including the use of faster aircraft,. which, in his mind, would help the airline by bringing quicker turn-around times and, as a consequence, carrying more passengers.

With that idea, Paul R. Braniff convinced Tom Braniff and the other four investors to buy two Lockheed Vega aircraft.

Paul R. Braniff headed to Washington, D.C. in 1934, being called to testify before the congress, which was heading an investigation against air mail services. Paul R. Braniff returned to St. Louis with a contract for Braniff Airlines to carry mail, the first time the airline had obtained such type of contract.

Paul R. Braniff then set on exploring new markets for the company that bore his last name. In 1936, Mr. Braniff headed to Brazil, and he returned to St. Louis convinced that Braniff would do great economically if established in South America.

Intending to retire from aviation, Paul Braniff sold the airline to his brother Tom. By then, the airline had changed its name to Braniff International Airways. It was after Paul Revere Braniff left that Braniff International Airways became a major player in United States-South America travel and vice versa, as Braniff International Airways began daily flights to various points in that continent and to Europe after the jet era began, with their distinctive livery that included many colors not seen before on aircraft fuselages.

Paul Revere Braniff went to Oklahoma to try to work as a mechanic, and he established the Braniff Engineering Corporation. That company was the first one to introduce the Lennox Air Conditioners and heating systems in Oklahoma.

Then 44 years old, Paul R. Braniff was re-called into military service as the United States entered World War II, in 1941. Paul Revere Braniff would fly aircraft once again, this time with the Army's ninth air troop carrier command, in England. But, after his second service in the military was over, so was his flying career.

He later worked for the Douglas Company. in Los Angeles, as an advisor. He decided to move to Oklahoma, where he worked another aviation-related company as salesman, selling used aircraft parts to customers.

Paul Revere Braniff was diagnosed with cancer later in his life, and he went on to spend his last couple of years resting. Expected to survive, Mr. Braniff suffered a cold in the summer of 1954, which later turned into a pneumonia. He had surgery to correct the pneumonia, but the surgery affected his cancer disease, and he died from cancer complications that were directly connected by his doctors to the pneumonia surgery.