PAGE TWO
THE PIEDMONITOR
JUNE, 19§9
Two Piedmont Employee
Near The End Of A Dre
From the time when we stood
as children gaping at an airplane
soring overhead, we have per
haps admired and envied the
men who were pilots. There
seems to be a natural respect for
the men who pilot the cloud-
piercing crafts. And for most of
us who now work for an airline,
(but who are limited to the ground
there are moments when we re
turn to the fascination of child-
Ihood and wish we could be the
“man in control’’ of these amaz
ing transporters.
But we have learned that there
is more than magic to the job.
There is more than riding over a
path of blood red clouds at sun
set, more than the Christmas
tree beauty of towns trink-
ling in the night. We now know
that it takes not only courage,
but an ability to accept respon
sibility for human lives, a high
degree of- skill acquired by long
training to be a pilot. Most
of us are content just to glance
with envy once in a while as we
see the pilots wave goodbye,
tari down the runway and pull
into the mystery of the horizon.
But then there are others who
are willing to take the long
training and hard work to
make the dream of flying a
reality. Two such men are Rick
Almond and Carl Martin who
will soon be flying as co-pilots
for Piedmont.
Rick has been with Pied
mont since 1952 and is fami
liar to all of us as Station
Manager of our Knoxville sta
tion. Not long after Rick had
started working for Piedmont,
he started taking private flying
lessons. Rick had become fasci
nated with flying while watch
ing the planes during World
War II, but going further than
most of us, had the determina
tion to see his dream come
true. For eleven years he pati
ently took lessons and in 1957
he received his commercial li
cense and instrument rating.
Carl is another long time
employee. He has been work
ing as an aircraft mechanic for
eight years. Carl says that he
had no idea of becoming a pilot
when he started with the com
pany, but after some pleasure
flying, the bug caught him and
he started taking lessons. About
2 1-2 years ago he got his
commercial license, 1 1-2 years
ago he received his instrument
rating. Carl has gotten in plen
ty of practice in flying by being
part owner of a 140—Cessna.
As Carl and Rick climbed
into the cockpit of an F-27 to
DOse for a PIEDMONTOR pic
ture, they looked as happy as
two kids walking barefooted
through a nice squishy mud-
pudd]e...or as proud as two men
who had made a dream come
true.
Attend Meeting
Messrs. T. H. Davis, President,
R. S. Northington, Vice Presi
dent, and C. W. Gough, Manager
of the Parts and Accessories De
partment of Piedmont Aviation,
attended the Aviation Distribu
tors and Manufacturers Associa- ^
tion meeting in San Francisco, j
California, during the week of'
June 22nd. Piedmont Aviation
has been a member of this or
ganization since 1947. The ob
jectives and purposes of the As
sociation are to promote friendly
business relations and mutual
confidences among its Members
and with others in the Aviation
Industry. ADMA meets twice a
year which affords all of the
distributors and manufacturers
the opportunity to meet togther
to discuss problems in connection
with the production and market
ing of all parts and supplies. Mr.
Northington served as President
of ADMA from November, 1955,
until November, 1956, and is now
a Member of the General Policy
Committee.
City Of Jackson Opeis
New Terminal
Recently the City of Jackson,
Tennessee invited Piedmont to
bring company representatives
and an F-27 to the dedicatioTi
ceremonies of their new terminal
building.
As you know, we are seeking
authorization to serve Jack.son in
the Southeastern Area Local
Service Case and were therefore
glad to have this opportunity to
nicet the neople and displaj' our
prop-jet. The Bureau Council of
the CAB has recommended that
Piedmont serve Jackson through
l-'noxville.
The ceremonies included air
demonstration, display of differ
ent types of planes, and speeche.-?.
In addition to the co;r.munity
people, several airlines, in'jlud-
ing foreign, were represented.
The people of Jackso.i weie
extremely enthusiastic over the
i F-27. It was the first jet-powered
1 aircraft to land at the;r field
and hundreds went thro'.igh and
expressed approval. Airport offi-
j cials and leading citizens were
given a courtesy flight.
Messrs. Davis, Brown, Saun
ders, Nicholson, Brunt, Stack,
and Don Britt, and Captain
Jimmy Craig attended.
Route Case
There have been no new de
velopments in any of the pend
ing route cases. A report on
the Piedmont Area Case was
given in the May issue of the
PIEDMONITOR and as you
know, the hearing before Exa
miner James Keith was con
cluded May 21. The Examiner
has now established July 31
as the date for the transmit
tal of briefs. The briefs are
prepared after the conclusion
of the hearings by the at
torneys for the different ap
plicants and include argument
based upon facts presented at
the hearing in exhibits and
testimonies. After these briefs
are submitted in the Piedmont
Area Case, some time will be
required for the Examiner to
study and analyze the entire
record in order to develope his
initial decision.
In the Cincinnati - Detroit
Case, the date for the hearing
has been postponed from June
15 until June 29, and, as it
now appears, will probably last
about two weeks. Further in
formation concerning this case
will be in the next issue.
Examiner’s Decision Released
Passenger Fare Investigation
WASHINGTON, D. C. — The
Air Transport Association to
day notified the Civil Aeron
autics Board it will press no
specific exceptions to the Ini
tial Decision of Examiner
Ralph L. Wiser in the Gen
eral Passenger Fare Investi
gation.
COMPANY PICNIC IS SUCCESS
Although finding the Initial
Decision “disappointing in sig
nificant respects, “ATA said
such areas “by and large...fall
outside the scope of ATA’s pre
sentation in this case.” The
Association’s stated role in the
proceeding deals with matter
of general airline industry ap
plication. Specifc proposals aa
to the fare adjustments and
other measures which are need
ed originate with individual
carriers.
Noting that the Initial De
cision “rests on sound basic
principles,’’ ATA urged the five
man CAB, however, to “review
with care those areas of the
Initial Decision which may be
deemed to fall short, and to
which exception is in order.”
See EXAMINER’S - Back Page
A Letter... A Flight... A Visit..
A Few Thoughts On Piedmont
The other day I was going
through the “commendation” let
ter file and one short note caught
my eye. It read: “I want to write
a short letter of appreciation foi
the fine personal service which
I find I always receive when I
am riding on your airline. Your
comparison is good with other
airlines because you always take
' a personal interest in your pas-
' sengers.” This is a rather simple
letter representative of the ma
jority that we receive and i1
' seemed to say a lot.
I And then the high number of
; articles we’ve had in the PIED-
Approximately 1,200 fun-lov-
ing Piedmont employees gath
ered June 6th at Tanglewood
Park for the annual family
picnic.
One of the biggest events of
the day was the golf tourna
ment and Flight Attendant Dick
Jones won first prize of a
dozen golf balls and 2 pairs
of golf socks. Mrs. R. S. North
ington, the only woman to
play golf during the day, won
a handsome alligator golf
blouse.
Ed Culler, stationed at Fixed
Base in Winston-Salem, lucki
ly walked away with the at
tendance prize which was a
beautiful clock radio. Ed was
the first person attending the
picnic whose payroll number
was drawn.
These three seemed to be
the lucky ones for the day, but
everyone else had too much
fun to really mind their lack
of luck. The picnic supper, ca
tered by Paul Myers, was
mighty good eatin’ with piles
of fried chicken, barbecue, ham
biscuits and a variety of side
dishes.
It seems that the mothers
as well as the kiddies enoyed
the free rides and the day was
perfect for swimming.
Everyone seemed to agree
that Tanglewood was certainly
the ideal place for the pic
nic and that this year’s took
the ribbon for being the best
we’ve ever had.
MONITOR reporting the growth
of our company struck me. In
introducing the F-27 into our
fleet, the company had made a
major step toward modern and
improved service . . . the per-
See A LETTER
Back Page
THIS BEAUTIFUL SHOT OF OUR F-27 in flight is one of a
group made by Fairchild. The collection of pictures will be
made available for station files at a later date.
Finance Meeting
The Airline Finance and Ac
counting Conference of ATA
held its semi-annual meeting
in May in New York City. Mr.
M. F. Fare, Secretary of the
Company, attended.
The Confernce is made up of
the financial officers of the
trunk, international (U. S.
based), and local carriers. This
group is divided into commit
tees who work together dur
ing the year to arrive at the
most efficient methods of hand
ling the different financial as
pects of the industry. These
committees make recommenda
tions to the entire group at
the semi-annual meetings, and
if the Conference approves
their ideas, they are presented
to the Board of Directors of
ATA.
Mr. Fare points out that the
Conference not only provides
a sounding board for industry
problems, but results in a bet
ter cooperative climate for in
ter-company relations.