around
he industry
The Air Transport Association reports that the nation's
airlines in August accounted for more than 40 billion rev
enue passenger miles of service, an all-time record high
in airline passenger traffic. KFMs rose 8 percent in Au
gust over August 1986 and were up 12.7 percent for the
first eight months of 1987.
For the first eight months of 1987, domestic traffic was
up 10.1 percent and international traffic, up 24.7 per
cent, over the same period in 1986. Load factor rose 1.5
points to 63.9 percent for domestic travel and 7.8 points
to 66.8 percent for international.
American plans to begin daily nonstop, round-trip ser
vice between Raleigh/Durham and San Juan on Decem
ber 2. Service from San Juan will continue to Barbados.
* * *
A survey conducted during the past summer by the
Gallup Organization for the Air Transport Association
shows that 72 percent of the adult population (126 mil
lion) has flown and 30 percent flew during the past year.
Fifty-two percent of all trips within the last 12 months
were for pleasure or other personal reasons. Those who
Hew during the past year averaged 3.4 round trips each.
* « «
Flight delays in the nation's airport and airway system
dropped 32 percent in August from the previous month,
according to preliminary Federal Aviation Administra
tion figures. This was the largest monthly drop since
January. The August delay figure was also 23 percent
below the number for August of last year. In the four-
month period May through August, flight delays dropped
by 10.6 percent from the same period in 1986.
* * ♦
A new airline, MGM Grand Air. launched service in
September with a lleet of three Boeing 727-100s that
have been lavishly refurbished so that each of the air
craft's 33 passengers enjoys the best of first-class accom
modations. The all-frills carrier, which flies nonstop
between l>os Angeles and New York (JFK), is targeting
business travelers and entertainers who will be able to
pay $818 each way for the coast-to-coast service.
♦ * *
Continental has announced several new programs
aimed at improving customer service. According to Avia
tion Daily, next year the airline plans to open "Continen
tal University," an educational and training center
available to all employees: new employee training centers
in Washington, D.C., and Newark: consumer relations
training for their 14.000 employees who deal directly
with consumers; and relocation of the airline's consumer
relations department, which has grown 264 percent
since last February, to larger quarters. The airline also
plans to automate its ticket refund system and add com
puter enhancements to its OnePass frequent flyer pro
gram, install a refund hotline, employ more special
passenger service agents, and establish employee incen
tive programs. Continental's new advertising campaign,
begun in September, points out its past service problems
and promises better performance.
♦ ♦ ♦
Air travelers, especially business passengers, ranked
rapid passage through airports as their highest priority
in a recent survey conducted by the International Foun
dation of Airline Passengers Associations. Thorough
security and availability of flight infbrmation were also
ranked high by the almost 30.000 frequent llyers polled.
♦ * ♦
Airline Economics predicts that North American traf
fic, includingCanadaand Mexico, will climb to about 493
billion revenue passenger miles by 1990, up almost 30
percent over the 383 billion recorded in 1986.
* * *
Governor George Deiikmejian has signed legislation
banning smoking on airline flights that begin and end in
California, the first law of its kind in the U.S. The law,
which is effective January 1, also bans smoking on in
trastate bus and train trips and in 75 percent of the space
in airports and other public transit centers. The law will
effect PSA in particular. The airline, the largest in the
state, has 525 llights daily, half of them within California.
On Dcccmber 8, Piedmont will begin its first intrastate
flight in California when it inaugurates service between
U)S Angeles and San Diego.
up for discussion
Have a question about Piedmont? This column, “up for discussion,” gives you an
opportunity to ask questions about your company.
All questions must be signed and include your name, title, and location. Your
name will be withheld from publication and will not be revealed when your ques
tion is sent to the proper department for an answer. Unsigned questions will be
automatically discarded.
When related questions are received, they will be consolidated and answered as
question. As many questions and answers as space allows will appear each
one
month in “up for discussion.”
Send your questions to Piedmonitor Editor, H440, or One Piedmont Plaza,
Winston-Salem, NC 27156-1000.
Q, Piedmont prides Itself on being a
high quality passenger service and on-
time airline. We have a multi-million dol
lar ad campaign to inform the traveling
public of this.
Recently, a hiring freeze has been in
stituted and several stations have been
told they are "over staffed." I am a super
visor at one of these so called "over
staffed” stations, and I don't have enough
manpower to provide proper Piedmont
service now.
How can the home office justify the
money spent on an ad campaign and not
supply the personnel to provide this
service?
A
An in-depth study was undertaken
to review our staffing methods and tech
niques. During this study, we did slow
down transfers and new hiring. That
study is complete. Station managers
have been briefed on the new guidelines,
and they will soon be receiving further
details froni regional directors. All station
personnel should be included in discus
sions about new manning concepts. You
may already have been briefed as you
read this. As to backing up our advertis
ing with good service, I believe you
would agree that we really already do
that. Our personnel costs represent the
single biggest part of our budget. Adver
tising, at about 2 percent of oar costs, is
among the smallest.
Bob Reed
Staff vice president-stations
Q.
A couple of years ago there was an
article in the Piedmonitor in which one of
our vice presidents at INT was quoted
about airline image and how it related to
safety. He stated that one of the reasons
Piedmont lakes such great care in main
taining the interior and exterior of each of
our aircraft is that it has been proven that
the public feels that a plane that looks
good is safer. We supposedly took that
idea seriously and. hence, the fresh and
new appearance of our fleet. It has been
noted that lately, however, our 737s and
727s (added well before our F28s and
767s) are starting to look very poor, espe
cially in the exterior paint job. Is exterior
paint being ignored now due to the im
pending merger?
A. You are correct to observe that an
unattractive exterior appearance can
raise doubts. It suggests lack of interest
and that in itself could lead individuals
to negative conclusions.
You are right to address this issue in
terms of the confidence level of our pas
sengers as well as our employees. Before
moving on to explain how over the next
several months our fleet appearance will
improve, permit me to emphasize two
points.
We do not and will not compromise
safety. This is a cardinal rule. Our efforts
in this area are well substantiated. The
dollars we invest in people, material,
equipment, and facilities focus on this
basic premise. Safety is the primary rea
son we come to work.
The second point relates to USAir.
There have been no decisions between
the two companies to let fleet appear
ance go or deteriorate. The basic reason
why some of the aircraft flying today
make us less than proud has been our
dynamic growth. Our fleet size is such
today that former methods for upgrading
appearance cannot keep pace with the
need. Which leads me to share with you
how we are addressing this issue.
Beginning in October and lasting for
several months, aircraft are being re
moved from the flight schedule for the
sole purpose of painting exteriors. In the
past, turning a paint Job was a Lengthy
process, but with a much smaller fleet
we were able to visit the demand. What
we have done includes the following: es
tablished new methods which reduce the
downtime for paint by more than half:
added 20 painters to the workforce: and
implemented a scheduled cleaning oper
ation that will also enhance exterior
appearance.
We have “eye-balled" the fleet during
the past 30 days. The worst cases are
being addressed first. The results of these
efforts will be recognizable in a very
short time.
George Mason
vice president-
maintenance & engineering
Benefits extended to part-timers
2
In order to assure equitable treatment for
all Piedmont Airlines employees following
our merger with USAir and the subsequent
integration of the two work forces. Piedmont
recently announced the following policy
changes applicable to part-time agent and
clerical personnel:
• Effective November 1, all Piedmont Air
lines part-time agent and clerical personnel
are provided medical, dental and life insur
ance benefits. Family coverage will also be
available for purchase at group rates under
these plans.
• Effective January 1, 1988, airline part-
time agent and clerical personnel also will
become eligible for holidays and improved
vacation and sick leave benefits. Details will
soon be published in standard practices.
• All part-time and former part-time air
line personnel will receive 50 percent credit
for their part-time employment since May 1,
1979 for classification seniority purposes.
• All agent personnel formerly with
Empire Airlines will receive classification se
niority credit to their Empire date of hire, in
cluding 50 percent credit for their part-time
service since May 1, 1979.
Piedmonitor • October 1987