November 1985
volume 36, number lO
News about Piedmont. The Up-And Coniint>; Airline.
The Shuttle - another success story for PI
Less than a month after the first
F28 lifted off into Florida’s early
morning darkness on October 1,
The Piedmont Shuttle has sur
prised analysts, pleased Floridi
ans and exceeded our projected
breakeven point.
In other words, it has performed
about like we expected.
Once again, the research that
preceded a major marketing deci
sion — a decision questioned by
some in the industry — has
proven accurate and, in some
cases, even conservative in its
analysis. Like our entry into Day
ton, heralded by stock analysts
and competitors as a wrong move
at the wrong time in a depressed
region, the Shuttle has succeeded
in record time.
"We do our homework,” Bill
Howard, president and chief ex
ecutive officer, said. "Our decision
to start The Piedmont Shuttle was
based on sound research that
identified a need that wasn’t being
met. We then devised a strategy to
satisfy that need in the most effi
cient and cost-effective manner."
At the core of the strategy is the
Fokker F28-1000, a 65-seat twinjet
designed for short- and medium-
range flights. No other major air
line in Florida has a comparable jet
aircraft that can operate with a
reasonable profit on a daily morn
ing out, evening return schedule.
But that doesn’t mean some
airlines won’t try. Eastern, for
example, plans to start a daily
round-trip ilight from Key West
to Miami in mid-December with
a 727-100, the same type of
RVDEr
r
Bill Sudden Chris Zielenbach. Ronnie
Myers, Bob Brown, and Joe Hanko are
among the 13 mechanics we now have
at MIA. Until hangar facilities can be
arranged, all maintenance at MIA is
centered around two trucks parked on
(he ramp.
Cooperation key to Shuttle's success
"Our maintenance at MIA is
just like any other station. The
only difference is that our quar
ters are just a little tight,” Joe
Archer, division maintenance
manager-ATL, explained.
“Tight” is not an exaggeration.
Thirteen mechanics keep a round-
the-clock operation going at MIA
working out of two trucks. One
40-foot van houses over $1 million
in inventory and the other serves
as a locker for these employees.
“These mechanics are keeping
our fleet flying, and they’re doing
a good job for us,” Archer, who
spent six weeks at MIA helping
set up the operation, said.
“We’ve had lots of cooperation
— it has been a team effort on
everyone’s part. That’s what
makes The Florida Shuttle work.”
Cooperation has come from
many areas including employees
in the stockroom in Winston-
Salem who are keeping the trailer
115-seat aircraft we phased out
more than a year ago. More
responses from competitors can
also be expected as the Shuttle
system grows in January to in
clude Pensacola and West Palm
Beach, and integrates the com
muter schedules of lYans Air and
Southern Express.
“We anticipate increased com
petition, but we’re confident that
it will be in isolated markets,"
Howard said. "Remember that we
began a level of service that, to
our knowledge, has never been
tried before in any state. We added
56 new llights and five cities to a
route system timed for the con
venience of daily intra-Florida
travel. Competing with that level
of service requires a substantial
commitment of resources that
other airlines currently don’t
have."
Helping solidify our niche in the
market are more subtle business
decisions that translate into good
economics. In Timpa, we operate
the nation’s only F28 simulator —
a training bonanza that’s also
strategically located for our new
pilot crew base in Miami. Our
subsidiary. Aviation Supply Cor
poration (AVSCO), is the sole
distributor of F28 parts in the
United States with offices in
several Florida cities. And our
flight attendant crew base in
Miami also ensures efficient staff
ing of our Shuttle aircraft.
From routes to personnel to
support services. The Piedmont
Shuttle has taken hold in Florida
similar to an illustration that ap
peared in The Orlando Sentinel
after we announced our plans last
summer: an F28 standing on its
tail and embracing the entire state.
As we’ve said all along, it’s an
embrace that goes beyond love at
first sight.
well-equipped, and personnel in
operations at MIA who are sharing
their office.
“To ensure that our new Florida
services will continue to be suc
cessful, we will not cut back on
maintenance," Gordon Bethune,
senior vice president-operations,
emphasized, "not for any reason
at all. We’ve made a commitment
to run a safe operation and we’re
going to do just that. We’re in this
continued page 6
How many destinations
will see the Piedmont logo
for the first time in 1985?
See page 5 for the answer.