page two
frtBOfTtamrae
November/December, I977
Industry notes
Charlotte
Douglas Municipal Airport, better known to
us as CLT, was recently characterized by the
Charlotte Observer as “a magnificent money
machine that cranks out $117 million for the
Charlotte economy each year.”
This was but one of the findings in the 26th
survey conducted by the Air Transport Associa
tion to demonstrate the importance of U.S.
airports.
According to this study, the Charlotte-
owned, self-supporting field contributed $82.3
million directly to the area’s economy in 1976
through payrolls, expenditures and taxes. The
calculation assumes each dollar spent generates
at least one additional dollar.
The study showed there were 1,342 airport
employees working as air traffic controllers,
waitresses, ticket agents and weather fore
casters. They collect a $21 million annual pay
roll. Those jobs support 5,744 people who spend
an estimated $5.3 million a year on food, $4.8
million on housing and $2.1 million on clothing
and personal care.
ATA researchers estimated the airlines and
other airport tenants spent $16.7 million in
1976 on locally purchased goods and services,
paid $2.4 million in airport payments and
$793,000 in state and local taxes.
The airport is a major transportation nerve
center with 190 flights linking Charlotte with
78 cities. In addition to Piedmont, Delta, Eastern
and Southern serve CLT.
The ATA study also revealed that nearly
2,000 jobs were created in the Charlotte area
in the past three years by companies influenced
to move there by the availability of frequent air
service.
Most grown-ups have flown
According to the latest poll by the Gallup
Organization, 63 per cent of all American adults
have flown on an airline flight. The percentage
figure represents 94.5 million people and is a 13
is a "money
per cent increase over 1974, the year Gallup
last determined just how many Americans had
flown.
Some other highlights from the poll showed
in 1977 52 per cent of all airline trips were
business trips; of all adults polled 25 per cent
had taken an airline trip sometime in the past
12 months; of all adult American men, 67 per
cent have flown; 59 per cent of all adult Ameri
can women have flown. The poll, done for the
ATA, is titled “The Frequency of Flying Among
the General Public, 1977.”
General aviation setting records
Americans are buying more airplanes for
business and personal transportation than ever
before.
The General Aviation Manufacturers As
sociation says that manufacturers sales 1977
set new records for the sixth consecutive year.
GAMA says in 1977 the industry delivered
16,900 planes with a value of $1.5 billion. Harry
B. Combs, president of Gates Learjet and
GAMA board chairman, predicts 1978 deliveries
will reach 18,000 planes with a value of $1.7
billion.
Combs says more than half of the nation’s
1,000 largest industrial firms operate their own
aircraft, a fleet numbering nearly 1,700 planes
or an average of more than three planes per
company. General aviation aircraft operate
from all of the nation’s 13,700 airports. The air
lines serve about 400 airports.
Delta among top five
Dun’s Review, the financial journal, named
Delta Air Lines one of the nation’s five best
managed companies for 1977. “Delta received
the magazine’s award for soaring to new heights
as the airlines’ smoothest run and most profit
able carrier,” said a Dun’s spokesman. The other
companies to win the coveted designation for
1977 were Emerson Electric, General Motors,
machine"
Beatrice Foods and McDonald’s.
Dog teams within 30 minutes
Any commercial airliner flying over the
United States is now within 30 minutes of an
airport “bomb dog” squad.
The Law Enforcement Assistance Adminis
tration recently announced that the “bomb
dog” training program had been completed with
the addition of the 29th airport, at San Juan,
P.R. Other cities adding dog teams in the past
year were St. Louis, San Diego, Seattle, Phoenix
and Spokane.
The 29 cities, located in every region, were
chosen so the nation would be covered as fully^
as possible. |
There were 77 dogs and handlers trained
under a $400,000 program sponsored by LEAA
and the Federal Aviation Administration. Each
city has at least two dog-handier teams.
The dogs and their handler spend about 40
per cent of their time on airport work. Then
they patrol and do bomb detecting work in the
cities where they are based. Some of their
regular patrols include banks, stores and bus
stations. Airport alerts always have first
priority.
The handlers are local policemen, sherifl^’s
ofl^icers or airport security men who are sent to
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas for 20 weeks
of training. The program uses only male German
shepherds from one to three years old.
The law agency estimates that the dogs may
have saved more than 100 lives and prevented
millions of dollars in property damage.
USPS relies on airlines
More than 90 per cent of all intercity first
class letters now move by air. This is up from 80
per cent just a few years ago. The U. S. Postal
Service is relying more on regularly scheduled
airline service than on air taxi contract routes.
Interesting Interlining
European copitols offer variety for trips
This column on discount travel information is
offered as a service to employees. We compile it from
material sent to the Piedmonitor and the interline
department. Neither Piedmont nor the Piedmonitor can
assume any responsibility for irregularities that may
occur in connection with offers that are described.
Caesar offers variety
Caesar Hotels announces a new tour com
bining France with Germany and Switzerland.
The nine-day trip, has departures from Chicago
April through June of 1978 and is arranged in
conjunction with Air France. The first stop
is Paris. From there you’ll travel by motorcoach
through the Marne Valley and the Vosges Moun
tains to Colmar, near the French border. Here
there will be a typical Alsatian dinner. Leaving
Colmar, you’ll cross the Rhine into Germany
and the Black Forest. In the morning you’re
on the way to Lucerne. The last night is in
Beaune, located in the heart of the French
wine-producing area. The tour is priced at $399
per person, double, for employees, dependents
Piedmont Aviation, Inc.
Betsy Allen, Editor
Smith Reynolds Airport
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
RWUflE EDITOR/
*SSOC l*T ON Of AMt *
and retirees. Parents are eligible via TWA for
round-trip airfare, hotels with private bath,
$479 per person, double. The tour includes
breakfast daily, sightseeing, some special meals,
and full transfers. For more information write
Caesar Hotels 7738 Forsyth Boulevard, St.
Louis, Missouri 63105, (314) 727-1503.
Airfair interline week
You are invited to participate in the first
Airfair Week just for interliners in St. Croix,
Virgin Islands. Arrive any time the week of
May 17-24 and stay from two to seven days
at the Gentle Winds Beach Resort. Activities
will include a daily golf tournament, backgam
mon, tennis, nightly get-togethers, plus discount
coupons for duty-free shopping in St. Thomas.
There will be a beach luau on the 18th and 22nd.
A farewell get-together on the night of the 23rd
includes a trophy presentation for tournament
winners. Basic registration fee is $15 and room
rates are as low as $12.50 per person, double.
Send registration fee along with anticipated
dates of arrival and departure to Airfair Week,
9800 South Sepulveda Boulevard, Los Angeles,
California 90045, or call (213) 649-5320 to book
your reservations.
Cruise the Caribbean
Visit the ports of San Juan, St. Maarten,
Martinique, Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua and
St. Thomas aboard the s/s Amerikanis. The
price of $355 per person, double, includes seven
nights accommodations and all meals aboard
ship, shipboard activities and entertainment.
Departure date is April 22 from San Juan. For
more information, contact Best Interline Tours,
P. 0. Box 88956, Atlanta, Georgia 30338.
TWA eurofares
TWA is offering round-trip, positive-space
transportation to Europe and the Middle East.
Employees, spouse, dependent children under
21, and parents are eligible. Eurofare I, $120,
destinations are Barcelona, Lisbon, Paris,
Casablanca, Santa Maria (Azores), Dublin,
Madrid, Shannon, and London. London is on
space-available basis only. Eurofare II, $140,
includes Geneva, Rome, Milan, Vienna, Nice,
and Zurich. Eurofare HI, $160, offers trips to
Athens, Tel Aviv, Cairo, and Bahrain. For
further details, write Tom Gale, Manager-Inter-
line Sales, Trans World Airlines, Inc., 2 Penn
Plaza, New York, New York 10001.
Interested in going western?
The Phoenix Interline Club invites you and
your family to a weekend of western fun at
Wahoo 2. The second annual Wahoo event is
being held April 27-30 at the Pointe Resort in
Phoenix. Activities include horseback riding,
swimming, dancing, golf, tennis and eating!
Registration fee is $48 for adults and $20 for
children under 13. Hotel rooms are $20 per
night, single or double. For further details,
contact Phoenix Interline Wahoo, 7014 North
15th Street, Phoenix, Arizona 85020, or tele
phone (602) 944-2594.
Try a tennis clinic
Treat yourself to a tennis clinic holiday in
Cannes, France; Montego Bay, Jamaica; Ss.n
Jose, Costa Rica; or Costasur, Dominican Re-^^
public. Prices, from $309 per person, double,
include hotel accommodations, breakfasts, trans
portation to and from airport, room taxes and
service charges, and full tennis program. For
complete details, contact Caesar Hotels.
Rome or London
Nine-day packages to Rome or London from
$159 include transatlantic air fare, hotel accom-
rnodations, continental breakfasts, half-day
sightseeing tour, three days’ use of a self-drive
car and discount dining book. Rome departures
from New York are scheduled every Saturday.
London departures are scheduled every
Saturday from New York and on specified Satur
days from Washington, D. C. Reservations and
additional information can be obtained from
ITR Interline, Ltd., 39 West 55th Street, New
York, New York 10019, (800) 223-9815.