On March 17, 1937, Braniff Airways, Inc., purchased five used 14-passenger Douglas DC-2-112 twin-engine airliners to supplement its 10-passenger Lockheed L-10A Electra twin-engine airliner. The acquisition of the Douglas DC-2s enabled the Company to retire its single-engine Lockheed Vega 5-passenger aircraft just four months later on July 1, 1937. The first DC-2 was delivered to Braniff at the Oklahoma City Base on June 11, 1937.
Braniff purchased its DC-2s from Transcontinental and Western Airlines on March 13, 1937, with all delivered between June 1937 and November 1938. As a result of the sale of the DC-2 aircraft to Braniff, it became necessary for the airline to employ its first flight attendants or Hostesses, which was what TWA dubbed them and the term was also employed by Braniff. As part of the purchase agreement, TWA also supplied training for the new hostesses to service passengers aboard the 14-passger full-size cabin twin-engine airliners.
Braniff's new airliners were powered by two 750-horsepower Wright Cyclone engines that could push the craft to cruising speeds of up to 210 miles per hour. The big Douglas Twin could carry 3300 pounds and featured a maximum fuel capacity of 660 gallons, which gave the airliner a range of near 1100 statute miles. TWA paid approximately $80,000 USD per aircraft when they purchased them in 1934 and only 198 were produced of all variants, which was eclipsed by the thousands of units produced of its successor the famed Douglas DC-3.
The DC-2s were purchased by Braniff to operate over the carrier's route north/south route system from Chicago, Illinois, to Brownsville, Texas. Service was inaugurated on June 12, 1937, between Dallas Love Field and Brownsville Municipal Airport, Texas. Service was quickly extended north from Love Field to Kansas City and Chicago, prompting the airline to adopt its iconic "From the Great Lakes to the Gulf" slogan.
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