2,700 Laid Off by Braniff Will Not Get Checks

KANSAS CITY, Mo. â€”  Braniff Inc. on Friday said 2,700 employees laid off when the airline sought bankruptcy protection will not receive their last paychecks.

The Orlando, Fla.-based airline also announced discount fares and a limited schedule for next week.

Braniff said workers who were not laid off after the airline filed for Chapter 11 protection Thursday for the second time in seven years will be paid, possibly early next week. The laid-off workers will not be paid.

“There are a great many unhappy stories in a bankruptcy,� said Don McGuire, a spokesman for the airline at company headquarters.

“I worked for a year to get this job . . . six interviews,� said Nancy McElwee, a flight attendant who was laid off and planned to return to her parents’ home in Cocoa Beach, Fla. “I’m not a happy camper right now. I wanted to go home, but not like this.�

Adding Flights

Braniff, meanwhile, offered a discount fare of $49 to any of the cities the airline plans to serve next week. The fares would be good for three days beginning Monday.

Braniff on Friday operated flights from Kansas City to Dallas, Orlando and Los Angeles. Braniff planned to add a flight today to New York.

The airline next week plans to add round-trip flights to Washington, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego and Phoenix.

McGuire said a bankruptcy judge in Orlando had authorized the airline to pay employees who continue to work and to give employees their Sept. 29 paycheck if they are recalled.

Those laid off included pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and others. A spokesman for Missouri Gov. John Ashcroft said about 1,900 workers--including Braniff employees and those in related industries--would be affected in Kansas City, where Braniff had been attempting to establish a hub.