Harding Lawrence
Lawrence's bold and dramatic accomplishments at both airlines earned him the reputation as not only a maverick of the transportation industry but as one of the last legendary titans of aviation.
[1] While at Braniff, Lawrence turned the conservative airline into a progressive and flamboyant carrier known for high fashion flight attendant uniforms, exemplary inflight service, and brightly painted planes.
Lawrence' revolutionary approach included approving the "End of the Plain Plane" campaign in 1965, which called for imaginative aircraft paint schemes, interiors, and never before seen passenger service comforts.
His father, Moncey Luther Lawrence (November 15, 1888 – March 12, 1954) was a school teacher and a Christian church minister in Perkins, Oklahoma and Gladewater.
Even with Lawrence's great success it was beyond his ability to get his mother to retire and move into a new luxurious home he had built for her in Dallas.
[3] Lawrence attended Gladewater High School, graduating two years early, but with a less-than-stellar academic record.
The school was founded by Major William F. Long,[4] who would employ Lawrence in two additional aviation positions after his wartime service.
The US had just entered World War II and the civilian school procured a government contract to train British pilots.
1 British Flying Training School Museum to honor Harding Lawrence's earliest aviation job.
He had pen and paper in hand and appeared to be watching the bustling Braniff schedule with a keen intensity and specific interest, writing down everything that he saw.
He retired on December 31, 1980, after a long battle to save Braniff from bankruptcy due to the competitive pressure of deregulation combined with a national economic downturn and unprecedented rises in fuel costs.
These airplanes were the C model with a large freight loading door at the front of the aircraft, which allowed Braniff to begin late night cargo service while during the day regular passenger service was operated with the aircraft, doubling the 727 utilization rate and allowed Braniff to open a new cargo business that was called AirGo.
Lawrence was bold with his management of Braniff even attempting to take over the much larger Pan American World Airways, Inc. in the early 1970s, which would have served the dual purpose of making Braniff a worldwide air carrier and giving Pan Am access to a United States domestic feeder system.
Pan Am's Chairman Najeeb Halaby unfortunately refused the idea, preferring to pursue a merger with international competitor Trans World Airlines.
[13] On September 22, 2001, Lawrence returned to his hometown of Perkins, Oklahoma, to act as grand marshal of the annual Old Settler's Fall Harvest.
[15] Lawrence died of pancreatic cancer at his villa in Mustique, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, at the age of 81 on January 16, 2002.
