"Ask About Piedmont Airlines' PX Plan"
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VOLUME IV, NO. 5
APACE WITH THE PACEMAKER
JUNE, 1961
Hik
ales Push Marks Start
Of Summer Season
“Ask Me About PX” is a slo
gan which has become well
known to Piedmont sales people
during the past two months.
Featured at ticket counters and
in newspaper and radio adver
tisements, the slogan refers to
the Piedmont Excursion Plan
which began operation in May.
Now that the vacation season is
here the Plan will be given in
tensive promotion to capture the
weekend traveler’s attention.
Sales Up
The “PX Plan” is already doing
well for itself. Since the first
weekend it was offered the num
ber of excursion fares have
shown an increase of over 250
per cent.
By mid-June “PX” fares ac
counted for approximately eight
per cent of the total system
travel for the weekend checked.
Piedmont scored a first with
the Plan which is beginning to
be imitated throughout the coun
try. The fares offered—75 per
cent off the return portion of
the roundtrip ticket—are the
lowest i-n the history of the air
line industry.
An Orchid For You—CLT Agent Tommy Young gives Mrs. Nathan Dob
bins a complimentary orchid to mark her first flight. Mrs. Dobbins, 81,
was flying to Norfolk from Charlotte using the "PX" Plan. Her first visit
to ORF in four years, the trip was made especially to see two great
grandchildren for the first time.
Director-Cargo Services Post Created,
R. H. Reed Named To Fill Post
Services Shown Via Slides
One of the latest projects de
signed to promote interline sales
is an eight-minute slide-showing
presented and narrated by Pied
mont District Sales Managers.
The slide presentation features
points of interest along the sys
tem, plus information on Pied
mont equipment, schedules, and
route structures.
It was recently shown in At
lanta to over 400 interline per
sonnel in a single day. Further
showings are planned for reser
vation and ticket counter em
ployees from other airlines to
familiarize them with Pied
mont’s routes and services.
Robert H. Reed has been pro
moted to the new position of Di
rector-Cargo Services for Pied
mont.
According to announcement by
Vice President C. Gordon Brown,
Reed will be in charge of all
sales and service activities con
nected with mail, express, and
freight.
Reed joined Piedmont in May,
1950, as an Agent at the Roanoke
station. He was promoted to As
sistant Chief Agent and, at the
time of his transfer to Winston-
Salem in 1957, was the station’s
Chief Agent.
From September, 1957, to his
present promotion he served as
Staff Assistant-Traffic. His duties
included responsibility for re
search and statistical work in the
preparation of CAB
exhibits.
IS Born in Pitts-
, burgh, he attended
; public schools in
Roanoke and work
ed in that city be
fore joining Pied-
Reed mont. He is Presi
dent of the Airline Investment
Club, and is married to the form
er Ileita Lee of Akron, Ohio.
Reed, his wife, and their sons
live at the Ardmore Terrace
Apartments, Winston-Salem.
Helms Top Agent
John W. Helms, a newcomer
to the Piedmont “family,” has
been selected Agent of the Month
for the Northeast Division.
John joined the company at
Roanoke in January, 1961. Ac
cording to the Manager and
crew there, though his time with
Piedmont has been short, it has
been interested and enthusiastic.
He graduated from Jefferson
High School, ROA, in 1955, and
worked for the Vinton Weaving
Co. before joining Piedmont.
John lists water skiing and
auto racing as his chief hobbies.
He lives in Roanoke at 1505 Ken
wood Blvd., S.E.
On-Time Record
On Top Again
Piedmont continues to be one
of the leaders in the list of local
service airlines for superior on-
time performance.
Figures in the May issue of
Airlift Magazine show Piedmont
topped by only one other local
carrier for best on-time records
for all of 1959 and by two other
carriers for 1960.
In 1959 Piedmont had an ave
rage of 87.1 per cent on-time de
partures and arrivals, and for
1960 an average of 88.3 per cent.
Brown, Rawls, Senior Accountants
Secretary and Assistant Treas
urer M. F. Fare has announced
the addition to the Accounting
Department of James N. Browne
and Roy M. Rawls as Senior Ac
countants.
Browne will work toward the
development of a cost account
ing system for the company
while Rawls’ duties will include
the setting up an an internal
(Continued on Page Two)
Vacation Trips
Offered Again
The Piedmont-Cavalier Hotel
Fun Pack Vacation is being of
fered again this summer to em
ployees and the general public.
Special rates at the hotel, lo
cated at Virginia Beach, cover
kays from one to three weeks
plus ground transportation from
the airport to the Cavalier and
back.
The double room price for one
week is $92, which includes
breakfast and dinner plus the
use of all facilities.
Information on the vacation is
contained in a special brochure
quoting the hotel rates plus
roundtrip fares from 13 Pied
mont points. Fun Pack trips are
being booked primarily through
travel agents.
Reservations are also being
taken for TWA interline vacation
tours especially designed for air
line personnel. The three tours
featured this year are titled “The
Best of Europe,” “Africa,” and
“Round the World.”
Interested employees may
write Interline Vacations, Trans
World Airlines, 380 Madison
Ave., New York 17, N. Y.
Co-op Ads Aid Sales
Piedmont recently joined
American Airlines in a coopera
tive campaign advertising key
connections from several Pied
mont cities.
The advertisements are pri
marily of the destination type,
promoting flights to a specific
city. The current Piedmont-
American ads are publicizing
American’s new jet service from
Cincinnati to St. Louis and Los
Angeles.
The co-op campaign will con
tinue at selected cities for the
remainder of the year utilizing
newspaper ads and spot radio
announcements.
It was introduced to stimulate
travel on the normally lightly-
traveled days of Saturday and
Sunday.
Weekend Booster
In explaining the operation of
the “PX Plan,” General Sales
Manager W. G. McGee said, “The
Piedmont Excursion Plan offers
an opportunity during our high
traffic-producing months to
bring our Saturday and Sunday
traffic up to a par with our busi
est weekdays. This potent sales
feature offers a travel oppor
tunity unlimited to vacationers
throughout the Piedmont sys
tem.”
McGee went on to say that the
Plan boosts weekend traffic and
makes low cost air travel avail
able to beach and mountain re
sorts and to people who might
otherwise not have been able to
afford a quick weekend visit or
sightseeing trip.
Plan’s Uses
Basically, the Excursion Plan
can be utilized in one of three
ways;
(1) A passenger may leave on
Saturday and return the same
day.
(2) For longer trips, he may
leave Saturday and return any
other Saturday within 30 days.
(3) Those wishing to take a
quick weekend trip may do so,
leaving Saturday and returning
the next day.
Spot radio announcements and
newspaper advertisemsnts have
presented the Plan’s features to
the public and will continue to
do so throughout the summer.
ALTA Meeting Slated
Piedmont To Be Host
Piedmont will be host to presi
dents of local service airlines
covering the United States when
they meet in Asheville for the
annual summer meeting of the
Association of Local Transport
Airlines (ALTA).
The conference is scheduled
for July 20 and 21 and will be
held at the Grove Park Inn on
the outskirts of the city.
Airlines Welcomed
In announcing the location of
this year’s session. President
T. H. Davis said, “Piedmont Air
lines is proud to be the host car
rier for this ALTA meeting. We
welcome these airline presidents
to Asheville and to our home
state of North Carolina.”
ALTA Members
ALTA is an organization con
sisting of presidents of the ma
jority of local transport airlines
serving all 50 states. Member
carriers are: Alaska Airlines, Al
legheny Airlines, Aloha Airlines,
Bonanza Air Lines, Central Air
lines, Cordova Airlines, Ellis Air
lines.
Frontier Airlines, Lake Central
Airlines, Northern Consolidated
Airlines, Ozark Air Lines, Pacific
Air Lines, Piedmont Airlines,
Reeve Aleutian Airways, Sou
thern Airways, West Coast Air
lines, and Wien Alaska Airlines.
Blue Cross
Extends
Benefits
Extra benefits under the Ex
tended Benefits and Dread Dis
eases Endorsement plus a new
Medical Endorsement plan are
featured in the latest revision of
the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
medical plans.
Employees holding policies
under the Group Health Plan
will find the specific added bene
fits outlined in grey in their new
plan outline booklets. There is
no extra cost for these additions.
For 30 to 70 cents extra each
month (depending on the type of
policy) the new Medical En
dorsement Plan may be added to
policies. The plan pays up to
four dollars a day up to 70 days
for doctor’s visits, beginning
with the first day in the hospital.
Under the Extended Benefits
Plan money is paid for doctor’s
visits pertaining to the same ail
ment up to 70 days whether in
or out of the hospital. Without
Extended Benefits the money is
paid while in the hospital only.