BEFORE, below, and AFTER, at left. Piedmont's newest home, at Parkersburg, West
Virginia is officially open. Story on page three.
November/December, 1977
Vol. XXVIIl, No. 5
To and from the Board
The Civil Aeronautics Board announced its
approval in mid-November of a route swap
giving Piedmont non-stop Chicago-Louisville
authority and Eastern Atlanta-Columbia non
stop rights. The exchange means more competi
tion for Delta which flies both of the routes.
In upholding the law judge’s decision in the
case the Board said the route swap would add
$6 million to Piedmont’s annual revenues. The
Company plans to inaugurate the service on
March 15, 1978.
In mid-December Piedmont asked the CAB
for permanent authority to provide non-stop
air transportation between Charleston and
Columbia and Miami, Florida. Each of the South
Carolina cities would be provided with two, non
stop round-trip flights a day when Piedmont’s
proposal is approved. The Company forecasts
an annual net profit of $334,000 on the perma
nent Miami service. The proposal will also give
136,000 passengers their first single-plane
service in the Miami market.
Hopscotch approved
Piedmont has received permission from the
CAB to implement new discount fares on seven
of its routes. The eff'ective date of the new
fares is January 4, 1978.
k The 30 per cent discount Hopscotch fares
*are applicable on routes for flights requiring
more than one stop or connections where non
stop service is not provided by Piedmont. A
limited number of seats are available for the
special fares on each flight.
The routes involved link six Southern cities
with New York, including Atlanta, Charlotte,
Nashville, Memphis, Greensboro and Louis
ville. The discount fare also applies to Piedmont
flights between Memphis and Washington.
The Company anticipates more than 23,000
passengers will use the Hopscotch fare in the 15
months for which the fare was approved.
We’ve slipped
And then there was the not-so-good news
from the Board. The flnal statistics of the Con
sumer Complaint Report for 1977 showed Pied
mont lost its nearly traditional top spot.
Among the local service carriers Piedmont
came out third. It is unfamiliar territory. Since
the CAB started its Consumer Reports seven
years ago Piedmont has always ended the year
in first or second place in the category. For five
of the years Piedmont was number one. The
Company was number two for two years. Pied
mont had come out second in the industry for
the last three years. Only Delta had a better
record.
For 1977 Piedmont was the third best local
airline in terms of the report. Frontier and
North Central did better.
Of course the industry standing was worse
than that. Piedmont ranked sixth behind, in
order. Delta, Frontier, United, North Central
and Western.
Growth and expansion
continue for company's
general aviation group
Piedmont Aviation, Inc. opened its sixth
general aviation operation in early October,
1977.
Located in Charlottesville, Virginia, and
designated Piedmont Charlottesville Aero, this
newest member of the Company’s general avia
tion group has been appointed a Piper dealer and
will ofl'er all general aviation services.
Paul D. Sayers, who had been distribution
service administrator for Piedmont Piper Sales,
was named manager of the Charlottesville
operation. A native of Charlottesville, Sayers
has been with Piedmont for nine years.
The Charlottesville oflfice is the Company’s
sixth general aviation operation and the fifth
one in Virginia. Piedmont’s other general avia
tion operations in The Old Dominion are in
Norfolk, Roanoke, Richmond and Manassas.
The Winston-Salem ofl'ice of Piedmont
Aviation, Inc. has been appointed Afi^iliated
Factory Service Center by Pratt & Whitney Air
craft of Canada, Ltd.
Pratt & Whitney of Canada has only one
other factory service center in the U.S. It is in
New England.
This recent appointment will enable Pied
mont to supplement its current maintenance
capabilities with factory trained technicians
to handle factory overhauls for the widely used
PT6A engines.
Piedmont will have these factory rental
or exchange engines in stock and available for
quick change at competitive prices through the
Winston-Salem facility.
J977 was first four million passenger year
More than 4 million passengers flew Pied
mont in 1977. It was the Company’s first 4 mil
lion passenger year.
The airline flew 1,261,413,826 revenue pas
senger miles during 1977, up 9 per cent over
the 1,157,179,076 flown in 1976.
Passenger boardings for the year totaled
4,167,954, a gain of 8 per cent over the 3,859,819
passengers carried in 1976.
The passenger load factor for 1977 was 51.8
per cent compared with 51 per cent for 1976.
Piedmont’s fourth quarter revenue pas
senger miles totaled 325,444,105 in 1977, up 11
per cent from 292,591,915 in the same period of
1976.
Passenger boardings for the fourth quarter
of 1977 were up 10.5 per cent to 1,066,503 from
965,149 in 1976.
The passenger load factor for the last three
months of 1977 was 51.7 per cent compared with
50.5 per cent for the final quarter of 1976.