Braniff Grounded in Mexico

In his aviation ventures below the Rio Grande, Braniff Airway's Tom Braniff has increased the odds against himself by sounding off against Mexican Government officials and by competing with Pan American Airways. Last week the odds caught up with him.

Early one morning employes of Aerovias Braniff, S. A. found the way to company planes at Mexico City's Central airport blocked by armed airport guards. Reason: the Ministry of Communications and Public Works had refused Braniff's application for five air routes, had canceled the temporary permit under which the company had been operating in competition with Pan Am's affiliate, Compana Mexicana de Aviacion, S. A. Said the ministry: a "technical study" had shown that present service by C.M.A. in Mexico was entirely adequate, therefore no competition was necessary.

Passengers who had waited up to three weeks for seats on both Braniff and C.M.A., except during the short off-season slack, would question this statement. Tom Braniff questioned it immediately. Said he: "The order of the minister ... is merely one of a long series of actions unfriendly to Aerovias Braniff, but showing partiality to Pan American Airways and its Mexican subsidiary."

Braniff officials in Mexico City managed to get a temporary injunction against enforcement of the Government order. But airport guards (commanded by a nephew of the chief civil aviation official in the Ministry of Communications) ignored the injunction.

Even if Braniff cannot make his injunction stick, his cause is not lost. The new national administration which takes office Dec. 1 may reconsider Braniff's application. One thing which will not hurt Braniff's case: in a recent reorganization, Aerovias Braniff sold 51% of its stock to Mexican nationals.

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