SYTOP
THE PIEDMONITOR
SYTOP
Vol. 1 No. 10
“Piedmont Sets the Pace
February 1, 1952
"TEN YEAR EXTENSION RECOMMENDED FOR PIEDMONT- T. H. Davis
The CAB Examiner’s Report and Recommendations in our Certificate Renewal Case is final
ly out “ and it is really a dilly. Briefly, he has recommended that we get everything we asked
for insofar as new routes are concerned, including the Richmond-Knoxville route now operat
ed by American Airlines and the Roanoke-Beckley-Lexington extension. He did not recom
mend a permanent Certificate, but he did urge a ten-year renewal, which is the longest period
ever recommended for any local service airline - another first for Piedmont!
The Examiner made it clear that the only reason he was recommending all these good things
for Piedmont was because - to quote the Examiner: ‘‘Piedmont has achieved an excellent
record in approaching self-sufficienty”, and Piedmont operated “at the lowest mail rate for
any comparable local service carrier.”
The Report is full of highly complimentary remarks about Piedmont - and since you are the
ones responsible for this record I want to quote a few of them:
“Since the beginning of operations Piedmont has had an outstanding record of declining costs
and increased commercial revenues.”
“During the last three years. Piedmont’s commercial revenues were a higher percentage of
total revenues than any other local service carrier.”
“Its (Piedmont’s) break-even need per revenue passenger mile and per revenue ton-mile has
been consistently better than the local service carrier industry average,”
“As its Form 41 reports show. Piedmont’s break-even need per revenue plane-mile for June,
July, and August, 1951, was only 2.88, 4.13, and 5o03 cents, respectively. These exceptionally
low figures appear to constitute a record in the industry.”
“The Post Office Dept, points out that Piedmont actually ranks number one in the comparison
of mail pay to total operating revenues.”
“Piedmont averaged 6.256 passengers per station; the highest of any local service carrier,”
“There has been greater public acceptance of Piedmont’s service than of any other local
service carrier during its initial three-year experimental period.”
These are just a few, but indicate forcefully the importance of efficient operation if subsi
dized carriers expect to continue operation and expand. If we continue our record of
efficienty, there is no reason why the CAB will not approve the recommendations of the
Examiner. Oral Argument before the Board will be held in two or three months. A final de
cision can be expected about two months after that.
Let me congratulate all of you on making it possible for Piedmont to be the leader - PIEDMONT
SETS THE PACE!
JANUARY TRAFFIC -
Wc carried 13, 792 passengers which is about 158 lower than quota« We can compare this
fifure with the passenger count of January, 1951 which was about 10,356, and the same month