19 4 8 - 19 5 6
EIGHT YEARS OF PIEDMONT
A Look Into The Future Of
Forward Strides
PROGRESS
I
Greater
"Whatever impedes amanand doesn't stop him, aids his progress. I don't know which
philosopher said that but It is certainly true and | bel ieve It appi ies particularly we 11 to
our Company. |f there has ever been a Company that had as many obstacles to overcome
as did Piedmont In starting its airl ine, 1 don't know who it would be. And,the Important
thing, of course, is the fact that our progress has been greater than any other local
service airl ine . "
This statement was issued by President T. H. Davis on the fifth anniversary of Piedmont
Airlines and has continued to hold true through the past years of our growth. From the
first flight of NC8820up to the transition fl ights of our newest Pacemaker addition, pro
gress has become routine in our organization.
During the year 1955 many milestones were passed enroute to our ultimate goal: Pied
mont Airlines was awarded route extensions between Lynchburg-Charlottesvil le-Washing-
ton and between Charleston-Parkersburg/Marietta-Columbus; additional routes were
applied for to include Fort Wayne, Souther Bend and Chicago from Columbus, Dayton and
Chicago from Cincinnati, Indianapol is and Chicago from Louisville; service between
Knoxville and Nashville was also applied for. Pacemakers carried 360,982 passengers
for a system load factor of 51 .72% (during the sales meeting in ROA in January 1955 it
was estimated that 350,000 passengers would be carried for a load factor of 50.00%).
president T. H. Davis was elected “Young Man Of The Year" for the City of Winston-
Salem, and again for the State of North Carolina; 967 became a member of the Pace
maker Fleet; new General Office building became a real Ity and a Permanent Certificate
was awarded by the Civil Aeronautics Board to Piedmont Airlines !
BRAN IFF AIRWAYS EXTENDS PASS
WELCOME TO PAI PERSONNEL
The following letterwas received by R. D.
Hager,Vice President-Traffic,from Regi -
nald Brack, Vice President-Traffic & Sales,
Branlff International Airways:
"Braniff Is pleased to extend a warm wel
come to Piedmont Airlines in joining the
family of prominent airl Ines with whom we
enjoy reciprocal pass agreements. We are
most anxious to offer pass privileges to all
of your employees and family members for
company business, vacation and emergency
travel over our domestic route.
"Braniff's routes currently under operation
as wel 1 as our newly granted route between
the Southwest and New York should offer
your people a wealth of Interesting places
to see and things to do. Foremost, we are
anxious to impress the folks at Piedmont
Airlines with the hospitalIty that made
Braniff famous the world over.
"May I have your acceptance of our offer?"
Most sincerely,
V Rex
Obviously
I
we can't become complacent and rest on our laurels, so let's take a look at
1956: The new General Office is now located In its new home; another
new Pacemaker has joined our fleet; CAB hearings for our new route applications are
expected, including the application for Knoxvllle-Loulsvllle service; the new hangar
will be completed, affording modern facilities for our Maintenance Department, Radio
Shop, print Shop and Stockroom; decision to be made on the best type equipment to re
place the DC-3.
The opportunities which lie ahead are numerous. We can accompi Ish about anything we
want to do. Half the battle in any undertaking Is wanting to do it. The January pass-
engerquota is28,303 passengers,or 913 passengers per day for a loadfactor of45.15%.
Our advertising costs are based on an allocation of 03(^ per plane mile, but this year
the CAB Isallowing us $50,000 "trade advertising" wherein we exchange transportation
for advertising In newspapers,radio and television. This allowance doubles the amount
alloted in 1955.
Needless to say,Mr. Hager accepted Mr.
Brack's generous offer. Pass p r i v i 1 e ges
via Braniff Airways will open a new world
to PAI employees, offering service to
places where many of us have dreamed of
going.
Radio Maintenance News
New faces in the Radio Shop at |NT are
those of A.L. "Al" Cody, W.E. " Gene"
Smith and R.G. "Bud" Ingram.
The new wire marking machine has greatly
Improved our radio instal 1 at Ion work and the
time saved over the old method of labeling
and "ringing out" the wires has permitted
us to turn out a neater Installation In less
time.
I’ takes a good bit of energy and brainwork to get ahead, and the personnel of Piedmont
\Irl ines have what it takes to continue our steady progress. Our very first motto:"Service
is the only thing we sell" still holds true In 1956. Just remember that the seat you
didn't sell today cannot be sold tomorrow!
PIEDMONT SETS THE PACE
We are all waiting for the big move day to
the new Radio Shop. Itwlll certainly feel
good to have a little "elbow room" after
many years in our cramped quarters. The
new screen rooms, air conditioning and
adequate electrical facilities should make
our electronics maintenance facility one
of the finest In the country.
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