January/February, 1979
Vol. XXX, No. 1
Tampa and Dallas to be put on map
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When this picture was taken, the bags on the left were
tagged tor destinations to come, and those on the right
for the new cities added to Piedmont's system during
1978. The next-to-the-bottom bag, TPA, and the fourth
one from the top, DFW, should be on the right now,
as final authority has been granted for Piedmont to go
to Tampa and Dallas/Ft. Worth.
New benefit plans
for retirement and
insurance are offered
Optional and supplemental life insurance and
retirement plans are being offered to all perma
nent full-time employees.
All employees covered under the Company’s
group term life insurance plan are eligible for
the proposed new supplemental life insurance
and should have received enrollment cards.
These cards must be returned no later than
Wednesday, February 28, 1979.
If enough employees, a minimum of 66 %
per cent, or about 2,600, elect to subscribe to
the plan, coverage will become effective at 12:01
a.m. on March 1, 1979. The first premium deduc
tion will be made from subscribers’ mid-March
payroll checks.
When the plan is implemented, current
employees who have not enrolled by February
29th, this year, will not be allowed to enroll
later without furnishing medical evidence of
insurability.
The premium rate for this supplemental
coverage is a bargain — 29(^ per $1,000 of in
surance per month.
This supplemental coverage will be writ
ten in the same amount as the basic coverage
currently provided for you by the Company
(Continued on page two)
The Civil Aeronautics Board has finalized
its approval of Piedmont’s requests to serve
Tampa/St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Florida and
Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas.
The Tampa award came January 4, 1979. The
Dallas announcement followed on January 18th.
In the Tampa case, the Board authorized
nonstop service from three airports in the
Carolinas — Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High
Point and Charlotte, North Carolina, and Colum
bia, South Carolina. One-stop flights between
the Tampa area and Raleigh/Durham and
Richmond were approved.
The Company has set April 1 foj* starting the
Tampa flights with the initial schedules to
include nonstop service from Charlotte and one-
stop service from Greensboro. Tampa will be
the second Piedmont-served city in Florida. We
put Miami on our map last year.
The Dallas/Ft. Worth service will start
April 29, 1979. The CAB order permits non
stop flights to the Texas cities from Greensboro ■'
Winston-Salem/High Point and Raleigh/Dur
ham and one-stop flights from Richmond and
Norfolk. The initial Dallas/Ft. Worth schedule
will have one nonstop and one one-stop Greens
boro flight and nonstop, round-trip service for
Raleigh/Durham. The Dallas/Ft. Worth service
will mark Piedmont’s first entry into Texas.
In addition to these two January route
awards. Piedmont has requested Charlotte-
Dallas/Ft. Worth authority under the Board’s
new automatic entry procedure. Piedmont filed
for Richrnond-Chicago as the one route per year
each airline is allowed to protect. Approval is
expected in both of these cases, but will not be
final until later in the spring.
Early in February, Piedmont announced
plans to offer direct daily service between Ashe
ville and Miami, starting with the April 29
schedule change. The flights, which will be the
only direct service in this market, will make one
stop, in Columbia.
We set flight efficiency record
Piedmont Airlines set this country’s first
official commercial aircraft efficiency record
during a recent flight from Washington to Kins
ton.
The efficiency record measures the distance
and number of passengers compared to the
amount of fuel and time used in the flight.
Atlanta-based Captain Richard Miller flew
the YS-11 to set the first Efficiency on a Com
mercial Air Route Record. The flight #909, on
December 29, 1978, was sanctioned by the Na
tional Aeronautic Association (NAA). It will
be entered into NAA’s official book of aircraft
records.
Captain Miller’s record flight was scheduled
for 73 minutes, block time, from Washington
to Kinston. His actual air time was 63 minutes
during which he used 318.5 gallons of fuel.
Today’s airplanes are more efficient than
earlier jets and prop-jets. This newly-establish
ed record program provides an official means
to measure aircraft improvement. It also pro
motes efficiency and fuel conservation.
To equalize participating aircraft, the effi
ciency record classifies planes by weight. The
record measures a flight’s efficiency with a
formula using the number of passengers times
the straight line distance flown, divided by the
fuel consumed and the time aloft. A shorter
enroute time provides a higher efficiency index
number; however, the faster the plane flies, the
more fuel it uses, which lowers its efficiency
index. To set a record requires the best mix of
pilot skill, aircraft performance and planning.
Piedmont’s participation in the efficiency
record program demonstrates the Company’s
awareness and concern for the need to conserve
energy. It is also indicative of the initiatives
taken by Piedmont and the industry to improve
operating efficiency.
In addition to the Efficiency on a Commercial
Air Route Record, as set by Captain Miller,
there is an Efficiency on a Special Air Route
Record. In both cases, a record may be establish
ed in either direction, but not on a round trip,
and the flight must be nonstop.
The NAA is the oldest, independent, public
service, nonprofit aviation organization in the
U. S. Since 1905, it has been this country’s
representative of the Federation Aeronautique
Internationale. NAA sanctions and certifies all
U. S. national and international aviation and
space record flights.
Captain R. Y. Miller points to the meter showing only
318.5 gallons of fuel were used during his record-setting
efficiency flight.
Year-end reports—financial, good; traffic, better
The statistical story of Piedmont’s 30th an
niversary year revealed record results.
The Company’s Airline Division reported
record traffic growth. The General Aviation
Group posted the highest sales and profits in
its history.
A look at the Airline’s numbers shows
revenue passenger miles totaled 1,434,406,769
during 1978, up 13.7 per cent over the 1,261,413,-
826 flown in 1977.
There were 4,580,073 passengers carried in
1978, an increase of 9.9 per cent over the 4,167,-
954 flown in 1977. A new record day for pas
senger boardings was set December 26, 1978
when 18,567 passengers were boarded.
Piedmont’s passenger load factor for 1978
was 54.8 per cent compared to 51.8 per cent a
year earlier.
In the fourth quarter of 1978, revenue pas
senger miles increased 17.6 per cent to 382,775,-
667 from 325,444,105 in the October/November/
December period of 1977.
Passenger boardings for the fourth quarter
were up 12.5 per cent to 1,199,656 from 1,066,-
503 in the same months a year earlier.
The passenger load factor for the last three
months of 1978 were 54.4 per cent as compared
to 51.7 per cent for the final quarter of 1977.
The Company reported earnings of $5,591,-
000, or $2.04 per share for 1978. In 197'7, Pied
mont Aviation, Inc. earned $7,495,000, or $2.95
per share.
Gross revenues were a record $264,158,000
in 1978, an increase of 15.9 per cent over the
$227,966,000 recorded for 1977.
Costs and expenses rose 17.9 per cent from
$218,955,000 in 1977 to $258,139,000 in 1978.
For the final quarter of 1978, gross revenues
were up 7.8 per cent to $68,316,000 from $63,-
375,000 a year earlier.
Piedmont Aviation’s net income for the
fourth quarter of 1978 was $1,066,000. Net in
come for the same period of 1977 was $1,811,000.
When he announced the financial results,
(Continued on page two)