Braniff Airways, Inc., operated as Braniff International Airways from 1948 until 1965, and then Braniff International from 1965 until the cessation of air operations, was a trunk carrier, a scheduled airline in the United States that operated from 1928 until 1982 and continues today as a retailer, hotelier, travel service, and branding and licensing company, administering the former airline's employee pass program and other airline administrative duties. Braniff's routes were primarily in the Midwestern and Southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, and South America. In the late 1970s, it expanded to Asia and Europe. The airline ceased air carrier operations in May 1982 because of high fuel prices, credit card interest rates, and extreme competition from the large trunk carriers and the new airline startups created by the Airline Deregulation Act of December 1978. Two later airlines used the Braniff name: the Hyatt Hotels-backed Braniff, Inc. in 1983–89 and Braniff International Airlines, Inc. in 1991–92.
In early 2015, the private irrevocable trust that owned and administered Braniff's intellectual property and certain other company assets since 1983 released the assets to a private entity associated with the trust, which founded a series of new Braniff companies that were incorporated in Oklahoma, for historical purposes and for administration of the Braniff trademarks, copyrights, and other intellectual property. These companies included Braniff Air Lines, Inc., Paul R. Braniff, Inc., Braniff Airways, Inc., Braniff International Hotels, Inc., and Braniff International Corporation. During 2017 and 2018, some of the original Braniff companies were reinstated for historical purposes and administration of Braniff's intellectual property assets, including those of Mid-Continent Airlines, Pan American Grace Airways, and Long and Harman Airlines, Inc. However, in early 2022, the private trust that originally owned Braniff's intellectual property since 1983 reacquired these assets along with the original Braniff companies and corresponding assets.
