Bill Grubbs (left) presented Kim
Koster of Orange Park, FL—the
millionth passenger to take advan
tage of The Piedmont Shuttle—
with a model F28 and a compli
mentary round-trip ticket for two
anywhere Piedmont flies during
ceremonies at JAX August 28.
Grubbs is district sales manager in
Jacksonville.
Also on hand for the presentation
were (1 to r) Barry Lyle, JAX cus
tomer service manager; Bob Ball,
director of aviation; MIA-based
flight attendants JoAnn Archer
and Dottie Garrison; and Captain
John Herrick and First Officer Jay
Sparkman, both based at MIA.
The Piedmont Shuttle started on
October 1, 1985 with 68 daily
intrastate departures between 10
Florida destinations. It was the
largest single influx of new jet
service into a state in the nation’s
history. Tbday, we have 123 daily
flights between 12 Florida destina
tions plus 44 daily departures
from Florida to cities outside the
state, making us one of the largest
jet carriers in Florida.
September 1986
volume 37, number 8
PI TPA, CLT link London requests
Piedmont, the City of
Charlotte, and civic parties
of the Tkmpa Bay area filed
a joint petition with the
Department of TYanspor-
tation on September 11
asking that DOT shift the
dormant Tkmpa gateway
designation for London
nonstop flights to Char
lotte and that Piedmont be
selected to fly the route. If
granted, all Charlotte-
London service will orig
inate and terminate at
Tkmpa.
Tkmpa was designated as
a United States-London
gateway in 1982. Arrow
Air served the route until
October 1984, when it sus
pended service. In recog
nition of the gateway’s
dormant status, DOT is
sued in late August an
order to show cause why
the Tkmpa authority
should not be moved to
another city, and why the
Who’s supporting
our bid for Lon
don services?
See page 5 for a
list of U.S. and
state senators
and representa
tives who have
rallied to our
designation of Arrow Air
should not be withdrawn.
In response, the Tkmpa
Bay parties pointed out
that if their gateway had
to be shifted, the public
interest would best be
served if it were shifted to
Charlotte with Piedmont
providing the service.
The joint petition also
asked that DOT institute
two separate proceedings.
One would determine
whether the Tkmpa gate
way should be shifted to
Charlotte and whether
Piedmont should be se
lected to serve that route.
The second proceeding
would determine the city
and carrier which would
receive the final remaining
gateway designation. Appli
cations for that gateway
have been filed by Delta/
Cincinnati, American/
Raleigh-Durham, Pan Am/
Pittsburgh, and, of course,
Piedmont/Charlotte.
DOT is expected to issue
an order by early October
explaining how it will pro-
cede with gateway selec
tions, and we have urged
that proceedings involving
Charlotte be concluded no
later than the first of the
year.
Support has been overwhelming
In August, the call went out: help us get the Charlotte-
London route. Within a few days, copies of letters—
representing an eight-state area—to the Department
of Transportation and members of Congress began
pouring in to the home office.
U.S. senators and representatives, chambers of com
merce, mayors, city and state officials, leaders of
major corporations, and numerous individuals alike
have joined us in lobbying for the right to provide non
stop service between Charlotte and London.
Robert Glover, district sales manager CLT. is one of
the many people in sales who has called on people in
the Charlotte area seeking support for the proposed
service.
“The response has been marvelous," Glover said.
“Wherever I go, people ask me, ‘What do you hear
about London?: We’ve received editorials from major
television stations, newspapers, and radio stations,
and the travel agents are backing us in our efforts.
“And the support from employees has been over
whelming. Jane Garrison and Carolyn Miller-both
agents in the Presidential Suite—volunteered to help
us make calls, and they, along with many others,
have been a big help in getting our message out in the
community."
One might expect people in the Charlotte area to
rally around Piedmont, but what about Eastern North
Carolina, and more particularly Raleigh/Durham
where American has put in a bid for the transatlantic
service?
“The response has been incredible," Eddie Albert
son, district sales manager, RDU, said.
“Except for RDU. every airport authority in Eastern
North Carolina that is served by Piedmont or our com
muter has given us its support. In most cases, we’ve
also received the full support of the mayor, chamber
of commerce, and development group in each of these
communities.
“In Raleigh, the director of the N.C. lYavel and Tbur-
ism. a division of the Department of Commerce, sent a
letter to the Tt-avel Council’s 500 members asking
them to support Piedmont. And eighty percent of the
travel agents we called on are supporting us.
Albertson added: “Our sales staff and people in the
stations did a great Job. As for me. it was the most
rewarding work I’ve ever done for the company.
DOT is expected to issue an order by early October
explaining how it will proceed with gateway selec
tions, with thefmal decision possible by year’s end.
Will the support we’ve received make a difference?
continued page 5
cause.