Tbm Davis (center). Piedmont’s founder and
retired chairman of the board, received the
Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Com
merce’s Community Service Award during a
gala dinner held at the Hyatt Winston-Salem
October 6. Davis became the eighth recipient
of the prestigious award. With Davis £ire Bill
Howard (right). Piedmont’s president and
chief executive officer, and Chamber Presi
dent Dee Smith of 1st Home Federal Savings
and Loan Association.
Davis was also honored October 16 at a
special Research TVibute dinner sponsored
by the Americfin Lung Association of North
Carolina. Last year, the association founded
the Thomas H. Davis Ftellowship in Pulmo
nary Disease — the first such fund of its kind
in the United States. Named in recognition of
Davis’ extensive fund-raising efforts, the
$20,000 £innual fellowship provides research
grants to physicians who are training to be
come pulmonary specialists at one of North
Carolina’s four medical schools. Davis helped
raise more than $400,000 during the past
three years to fund the fellowship.
In addition, Davis was honored by the Bow
man Gray Medical Alumni Association on
October 10. The organization presented him
with its Distinguished Service Award for his
many contributions to the medical school
during his 15 years as a member of the board.
r
volume 37, number 9
October 1986
On Time: best for our passengers and us
In June, Piedmont Airlines launched a major
campaign involving virtually every department
in the Company to improve on-time perfor
mance. By August, positive results of this cam
paign were already evident in our operational
statistics. In an interview with the Piedmonitor,
President Bill Howard discussed why improving
our on-time performance has captured so much
of our Company's attention, from employees
operating in the field all the way to senior man
agement. Here are some of his observations.
Clearly many people all across Piedmont
are expending energy and corporate resources
towards improving our on-time performance.
Could you give us a single reason why this is so
important?
A. Probably not a single reason, but many very
good reasons. Let’s look at on-time performance
from our passengers’ point of view. They have
told us emphatically that when our schedule
says their flight will depart at 8 a.m. they ex
pect to leave at 8 a.m., or at least be told in clear,
courteous terms why they cannot. This is not a
small matter with our passengers. They take this
very seriously and nothing seems to anger them
more than the appearance that we do not take
on-time operations as seriously as they do. Again,
looking at the matter from a passenger’s perspec
tive, if we do not honor our timetable, it raises
serious questions about the integrity of all the
other commitments we make, real or implied.
Let’s also look at the matter from our own self
ish point of view. An on-time airline is less costly
to operate, and easier to operate. Our people tell
me that days without serious delays are pleasant
days for everyone to work. When delays begin
plaguing our system, they plague each employee
as well. From our flight crews to our station
agents to our reservations offices, and all other
parts of Piedmont as well, an on-time airline is
clearly in our own best interest.
Q. What causes delays, and how did we get our
selves into this position?
A. Sometimes it seems as if everything causes
delays. I’m not certain just how our industry —
and this is an industry problem, not just a Pied
mont problem—got into it, but 1 think I know
when. 1 believe much of it traces back to the
air traffic control work interruption. For several
months on-time performance was beyond our
control. We understood and accepted that and
so did most passengers. That was five years ago.
Tbday that is a tired, worn out excuse, at least to
our passengers. We may know that we are oper
ating within an air traffic control environment
that cannot handle all the traffic we can gener
ate. But our passengers don't want to even listen
to this. They aren’t buying tickets from the Fed
eral Aviation Administration, they’re giving their
money to Piedmont, and they expect us to work
around ATC problems. They believe it’s our prob
lem, and, to a degree, they are correct. No one
else can improve our situation as much as we
can ourselves.
continued page 5
CLT 'protected' by gateway selection
The United States government has notified
the government of the United Kingdom that
it has selected Charlotte as a London gate
way. The action was taken October 8.
“Under the terms of the bilateral air ser
vice agreement existing between the United
States and Great Britain, each nation was
granted the right to select several cities to
become gateways for flights between these
nations.” Dave Murchison, assistant general
counsel, said.
The United States was concerned that the
United Kingdom would select Charlotte as a
gateway for one of its carriers and invoke
“market protection." an action which would
have given the British carrier monopoly
rights at that gateway for three years. Virgin
Atlantic has fded an application with the
United Kingdom to provide London/Charlotte
service.
The Department of Tf-ansportation soon
will be instituting a proceeding to evaluate
the various applications for U.S.-London ser
vice. The decision to select Charlotte now
was designed to preserve DOT’s ability to
select Charlotte at the conclusion of its
proceeding. “It does not guarantee that
Charlotte will be chosen as the gateway and
Piedmont, the carrier The U.S. government
has the power to switch gateways. What it
does do is prevent the United Kingdom from
selecting Charlotte, which would have
knocked us out of contention,’’ Murchison
explained.
The final decision will be made only after
all applications have been reviewed at hear
ings before the DOT. Piedmont has urged that
proceedings involving Charlotte be concluded
no later than the first of the year