Cash on the Time

Competing airlines are still trying to lure passengers with promises of glorious meals and gorgeous stewardesses, but Braniff International is about to try a new gimmick. Its ads will soon be arguing that "the way to the airline passenger's heart is through his watch." Starting on April Fool's Day, Braniff will display a large alarm clock on every plane. Before each takeoff, the alarm will be set to sound off at scheduled arrival time plus 15 minutes of permissible delay which Braniff allows itself. Every time a clock rings before landing, passengers will receive a "Fast-buck" chit good for $1 when redeemed.

"In our business, the name of the game is on-time performance," says Braniff President Harding L. Lawrence, 47, who boosted sales by spraying his jet planes pastel, and stirred the air industry into ventures in haute couture when he introduced Pucci-costumed stewardesses back in 1965. This time Lawrence is willing to gamble some hard cash on the hoped-for appeal of being the first airline "with guts enough" to make a timekeeping promise. Since Braniff carries some 500,000 passengers a month, the three-month campaign could cost the airline up to $1,500,000 in single bills paid out.

Last year the average daily landing delay at New York's Kennedy Airport was 20 minutes, 16 at Washington's National, 15 each at Los Angeles and Denver, and nine at Dallas, where Braniff is based. By and large, the villain was air traffic jams, over which neither airline management nor pilots have any control.

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