me piEomaniTon
VOLUME IV, NO. 6
APACE WITH THE PACEMAKER
JULY, 1961
ALTA Meeting Hailed As "Best Yet"
Piedmont Thanked As Host
Financial Experts discussing the topic "What is the Financial Image of Local Service Airlines?" were (left
to right) Edward Blair, William Blair & Co., Chicago; Frank B. Smith, Asst. Research Director, The Value
Line Investment Survey, N. Y.; ALTA Chairman Leslie Barnes, President, Allegheny Airlines; Roger Cortesi,
Senior Partner, Auchincloss, Parker & Redpath, N. Y.; Robert Pape, Vice President, The Chase Manhattan
Bank, N. Y.; and Gen. Harold Harris, President, Aviation Financial Services, inc., N. Y.
CAB Makes Changes;
New Appointments
CAB Chairman Alan S. Boyd
has announced the establishment
of a Practitioners’ Advisory Com
mittee on CAB practices and pro
cedures.
The Committee is selected
from representative groups prac
ticing before the Board, and is
an important step in a program
initiated several months ago to
simplify and expedite the con
duct of business before the CAB.
On the Practitioners’ Advisory
Committee’s agenda are several
projects designed to reduce the
size of evidentiary records in
route cases and to speed de
cisions.
Appointments Made
Chairman Boyd also an
nounced the appointments of W.
Fletcher Lutz, Jr. as Deputy Di
rector of the Bureau of Economic
Regulations, and Kermit W. Day
as Chief of the Management Di
vision, Office of Administration.
Lutz is presently Chief of the
Field Audits Division, Office of
Carrier Accounts, and has been
with the CAB since 1958. He re
places Robert K. Friedman who
is transferring to the Federal
Aviation Agency.
Day was formerly associated
with the U. S. Army Ordnance
Missile Command and the De
partment of Commerce and Dis
trict of Columbia Government.
Study In the Works
Other CAB news includes a
novel move by the Agency for a
proposed air cargo cost-finding
study. The study will be used as
a base for the development of
government policies to help real
ize air cargo’s great potential.
Mercer Airport
Month Observed
July has been declared “Mer
cer County Airport Month” at
Bluefield, W. Va., with special
events scheduled through tlie en
tire month.
Piedmont participated in the
celebration, aimed at acquainting
the public with the facilities the
airport has to offer and its role
in the economy of the area.
On July 23 Piedmont DC-3’s
were sent to the airport to make
scenic tours around the city as
part of the “Fly in July” theme.
A downtown department store
featured a Piedmont display and
two Agents were present to
answer questions.
Mrs. Dobbins Thanks Piedmont
Mrs. Nathan Dobbins, whose
picture was featured on the front
page of last month’s Piedmoni-
tor, has become quite a Piedmont
fan. District Sales Manager Don
Edmonson received this thank
you note from Mrs. Dobbins’
daughter soon after her mother
had made her trip to Norfolk:
Dear Mr. Edmondson:
I want to thank you for the
kindness and consideration
which you showed my mother,
Mrs. Nathan C. Dobbins, when
she flew by F-27 to Norfolk on
June 10.
This trip was a highlight of
her 81 years and she will tell
many people many times how
much she enjoyed the flight.
The picture and the lovely or
chid were much appreciated and
she took the liberty of letting
the newspaper in Bessemer City
use the picture along with a
nice article on her trip. She has
lived there 60 of her 81 years
and has many friends who share
her enjoyment in her experience.
Mama is a real booster for fly
ing — says that’s the only way
to travel. Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Bennie Peden
Charlotte, N. C.
June Is Record Month
Piedmont shattered all its pre
vious records during June for
passengers carried in a single
month.
In that month 53,260 people
flew Piedmont, traveling a total
of 10,242,773 miles. This number
of passengers tops by 3,027 the
old high mark reached in June,
1960.
Several factors are noted as
contributing to the increased pas
senger traffic. Topping the list
is Piedmont’s stepped-up sales
campaign featuring the Pied
mont Excursion Plan and the
Family Plan, both of which
offer air travel at discounts up
to 75 per cent off the regular
fare.
Other factors include the re
cently - awarded Knoxville - Nor
folk route, plus the normal rise
in summer and vacation travel.
ROA Suspension
Denied By Keith
James Keith, Civil Aeronautics
Board Examiner, has recom
mended that American Airlines’
request to end service in Roa
noke be denied.
American has contended that
its Roanoke operations have be
come increasingly unprofitable,
and that Piedmont, as a local
service carrier, could do a better
job by expanding its service to
the city.
In his opinion, Keith stated
that Roanoke needs both long-
haul and short-haul service, and
the city could support both Pied
mont and American operations.
He said that cvirtailment of
service by American would in
convenience travelers to such
cities as New York and Philadel
phia, and that the airline should
“be able to serve Roanoke with
DC-6’s on a modestly profitable
basis.”
American has been trying
since July 1, 1960 to discontinue
its Roanoke service. After the
CAB rejected its petition for
temporary suspension last Aug
ust 31, the airline filed the cur
rent petition for permanent sus
pension.
This is not the final decision
in the case, since Keith’s recom
mendation is subject to review
by the full Civil Aeronautics
Board.
A jam-packed hotel and a busy
conference schedule greeted dele
gates to the summer meeting of
the Association of Local Trans
port Airlines in Asheville
(ALTA) July 19-21.
Only presidents of local serv
ice airlines may belong to ALTA,
but the number of people attend
ing the session swelled to 100-
plus as other airline executives
and manufacturers’ representa
tives registered.
Piedmont Host
Piedmont was the host carrier
for this meeting, which began
the afternoon of July 19 with
registration and a hospitality
hour sponsored by Piedmont
Airlines.
Most of the presidents’ meet
ings were closed to other airline
representatives and members of
the press. A panel discussion on
the topic “What is the Financial
Image of Local Service Air
lines?” was open to visitors (see
photograph).
Events Sponsored
Manufacturers and suppliers’
representatives were active dur
ing the conference. Lear, Inc.,
sponsored a pre-luncheon recep
tion for members on Thursday,
with the Fairchild Stratos Corp.
and Fairchild Camera and In
strument Corp. acting as hosts
for the luncheon immediately
afterward.
The British Aircraft Corp.
(USA) Inc., the Allison Division
of General Motors Corp., Rolls
Royce of Canada, Ltd., find Cana-
dair, Ltd., were sponsors of a
pre-dinner reception that eve
ning. Another reception was
sponsored on Friday by the Ver-
tol Division of the Boeing Com
pany.
The ladies were not forgotten
at the conference. Wives of at
tending delegates were given a
luncheon at the Asheville Coun
try Club, as well as trips to the
Biltmore Estates and Biltmore
industries.
Murphy Speaker
CAB Vice Chairman Robert T.
Murphy was the featured speak
er at this conference’s conclud
ing luncheon, hosted by Pied
mont and ALTA. Piedmont
President T. H. Davis acted as
toastmaster.
In his speech Mr. Murphy
commented on ALTA’s four-
point program, listing the points
as: (1) support of the “use it or
lose it” policy, (2) continued
transfer of trunkline points to
local service airlines, (3) access
to profitable dense short-haul
markets, and (4) elimination of
all operating restrictions.
Need High Traffic
He stated that the “use it or
lose it” policy is designed to pro
tect the taxpayers’ interest, add
ing:
“The sound promotion of our
national air transportation sys
tem does not necessarily mean
that more air carriers should be
flying into more and more air
ports if their service is going to
be provided for only a trickle,
rather than a significant traffic
flow.”
Murphy urged the local serv
ice carriers to use every means
to increase their load factors and
to keep high their traffic flow.
Up Load Factors
“Carriers must pay very strict
attention to their load factors
and continue to experiment in
an effort to insure that the flight
pattern is making the most of
the traffic flow with the least
operational cost.”
He noted that these are very
significant times for the local
service industry, and that “ . . .
things are settling down a bit,
and, as with all of us at the point
of maturity, it appears to me
that it is now time for the car
riers to devote their attentions
most diligently to real efforts to
reduce the subsidy bill.”
Davis Thanked
After Murphy’s address ALTA
Chairman Leslie Barnes recog
nized President Davis, thanking
him for his work and saying that
“ALTA is indebted to you and
to Piedmont for one of the best-
organized meetings we have
had.” He also extended his
thanks to Mrs. T. H. Davis for
her work in hosting the ladies.
Chairman Barnes concluded
the conference by summing up
this attitude of the local service
carriers:
“We have not worried about
the future, but rather have taken
each day as it came. Now the
future stretches out ahead of us.
With enthusiasm and esteem we
can grow and expand.”
From Piedmont
Attending from Piedmont
were: Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Davis,
Mr. and Mrs. C. G. Brown, Mr.
and Mrs. H. K. Saunders, Mr.
and Mrs. M. F. Fare, Mr. and
Mrs. W. G. McGee, Mr. and Mrs.
Don Britt.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Norfleet,
Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Anderson,
Les Watson, Bud Halsey, Cleta
Marshall, Don Edmondson, and
Jack Gwennap.
Group Will Study
On-Time Records
President T. H. Davis has an
nounced the formation of a com
mittee to study the airlines’ on-
time performance.
The group will make a
thorough study of on-time prob
lems and develop suggested solu
tions.
To Make Analysis
In making the announcement
Mr. Davis said that the problem
is company-wide and cannot be
solved by any one department,
and that a sufficient detailed re
search and analysis of actual dif
ficulties has not been made.
Group Members
Serving on the committee are
W. A. Blackmon, Assistant to
Vice President of Operations;
K. E. Ross, Superintendent of
Stations; F. C. Nicholson, Ad
ministrative Assistant to Vice
President of Operations; and
L. H. Jackson, Superintendent
of Production Control.