me piEomonmm
VOLUME II, NO. 10
APACE WITH THE PACEMAKERS
DECEMBER, 1959
CAB Grants New Segment
Mid-January Date Set As Goal
For Opening Staunton Service
I
GOOD MORNING service on two Piedmont flights now includes
a continental breakfast presented here by flight attendant to a passen
ger. The appealing snack consists of fruit cup, sweet roll and coffee.
In Continental Style
Flight Breakfast ^dded
Throughout the Piedmont sys
tem the words “Continental
Breakfast” have been pencilled
in at two points on reservation
schedules. The breakfast—con
sisting of fruit cup, sweet roll
and coffee—is served on Flight
1 departing Hickory and Flight
53 departing Hickory.
It is the latest innovation in
Piedmont’s snack and beverage
service and, according to Super
intendent of Passenger Service
Stan Brunt, possibly may be ex
tended to other morning flights
if passenger acceptance is good.
Piedmont is one of the first local
service airlines to serve such a
breakfast.
Company First
In fact, a history of Piedmont’s
passenger service department
shows that the company was one
of the first local carriers to offer
many items of the beverage and
snack service. Several airlines
WRICHT BROTHERS SAY • DECEMBER 17
SPONSORED BY
NATIONAL AERONAUTIC ASSOCIATION
have used Piedmont’s experience
as a guide in their initiation of
such service.
Beverages were offered pas
sengers from the very beginning
of Piedmont’s airline operation
Coffee was the winter drink;
juice, cider or tea, the summer
drinks. Both were served from
two quart thermos jugs.
But buying beverages in quan
tity resulted in wasted excess
and caused the company to seek
a better method.
In 1954, buffets were designed
to use electric heating water
jugs. With hot water, instant
coffee and packaged sugar and
cream, Piedmont pursers are
able to serve a uniform cup of
coffee any time on a flight and
also to eliminate waste.
The different hot weather
drinks disappeared when Pied
mont became the first local air
line to offer passengers a frosty
bottle of “Coke.”
Hot Tea Considered
In the beverage department,
hot tea is being considered as an
alternate cold weather drink,
Stan Brunt reports. Tea bags
would be used, and cream and
sugar would be offered.
From the beginning, Mr. Brunt
says. Piedmont had difficulty in
explaining to passengers “why
we didn’t have meal service.”
“Serving a meal is impossible
from a cost-profit ratio for each
passenger,” he explains, “so we
have done the next best thing in
offering meal-time snacks.”
Snacks On 18 Flights
The first scheduled snack ca
tering service began October 28,
1956, after tests were run on
sandwiches and box meals. The
snack consists of sandwich, po
tato chips, pickles and cookies
or cake. It is served on 18 flights
at either lunch or supper.
“Passenger reaction is ex
tremely rewarding,” says Mr.
Brunt. “Any complaints on lack
of meal service are practically
nil at the present time.”
The snacks are catered from
Roanoke, Huntington, Charlotte
and Winston-Salem and are con
trolled to meet standards set up
by the U. S. Department of
Health.
Target date for inaugurating
scheduled air service for Staun
ton, Waynesboro and Harrison
burg, Va., at the Shenandoah
Valley Airport has been set for
January 15, 1960.
Service to the port on a new
route segment has been au
thorized by a Civil Aeronautics
Board temporary exemption,
which was announced by Pied
mont President T. H. Davis No
vember 13. The segment will be
flown between Washington and
Roanoke with the intermediate
point Shenandoah Airport.
Two Round Trips
The number of round trips
daily for the new station has
been set tentatively at two. An
estimated seven station per
sonnel will be required and will
be selected in the near future.
Fares for Shenandoah passen
gers to Roanoke and Washing
ton will be the same as for Char
lottesville passengers. (See story
on fares change on page four.)
Richard H. Holladay, airport
manager ac Charlottesviile, will
manage Staunton also.
Completed in 1958, the Shenan
doah port will be getting its first
scheduled airline service in the
new Piedmont flights. Staunton
applied for ajr service more than
four years ago and was denied
such by the CAB on the basis
that the city had no airport.
Colonial Terminal
Prompted by the denial, Staun
ton joined with Waynesboro and
Harrisonburg and built an air
port in Augusta County, one
mile south of Weyer’s Cave, Va.
The airport has a 4,000-foot run
way lying approximately east-
west and a terminal building of
white frame Colonial design.
The airport was built with run
way lights and beacon for night
flights. Radio and communica
tion facilities—the marker bea
con, ATC tie-in, ' teletype and
weather machine—as well as a
ceiling projection light and ane
mometer will be installed shortly
by Piedmont.
‘Indeed Pleased’
Announcing the CAB exemp
tion authority November 13,
President Davis said, “We are
indeed pleased that Piedmont
has been granted authority to
serve this new route.”
“A large number of new in
dustries during recent years
have established plants in this
section of Virginia, and we be
lieve that immediate availability
of scheduled airline service will
further enhance the continued
growth of this important section
of the state.”
The route segment is included
in the Piedmont Local Service
Area Investigation, now pend
ing before the CAB. The exemp
tion authority will be in effect
until 60 days after the final de
cision, which is not expected be
fore September, 1960.
Call For Washington
Is 170 Years Late
A t DCA a reservation was
made for a Miss Washington on
Piedmont Flight 15, October 8.
Arrival unknown was marked
on the card. Later the reserva
tions office was informed by Na
tional AirUnes that passenger
Washington would arrive NA
814/8 (National Flight 814 on
October 8).
The information was entered
on the card in the phone con'
tact block by one agent, and in
the afternoon another Piedmont
agent, who was checking passen
gers for Flight 15, tried to con
tact the passenger.
Mistaking the National flight
number for a phone number,
the agent dialed NA 8-1418 and
asked for Miss Washington. The
answering party? The White
House. It seems the Washington
family hasn’t been in residence
there for some time.
RAIN, RAIN EVERYWHERE and so is the name of Piedmont
Airlines, as two company umbrellas appear in a sea of rain-soaked
football fans. The game? Wake Forest vs. Carolina. The fans under
Piedmont shelter? No one will say.
Crash Evidence To Be Given
At Charlottesville Hearings
Public hearings on the recent
Piedmont DC-3 crash near Char
lottesville, Va., will be conducted
December 10 through 12 by the
Civil Aeronautics Board. The
hearings will take place at the
Monticello Hotel at Charlottes
ville.
Pre-hearing Meet
Piedmont will attend a pre-
hearing conference to be held
December 9 at the hotel for the
purpose of deciding the order of
the hearings. It will be closed
to the public.
Piedmont will be notified
which witnesses will be called.
The equipment investigation on
the crash has been completed,
and all evidence will be intro
duced at the hearings.
The CAB board of inquiry will
include Thomas K. McDill, hear
ing officer of the Bureau of Air
Investigation; Leon Tanguay, as
sociate director of the Bureau of
Safety; and Ross I. Newmann, as
sociate general counsel. Mr. Mc
Dill will preside.
CAB technical personnel who
will testify and ask questions
are David L. Thompson, investi-
gator-in-charge for the Bureau
of Air Investigation; Edward C.
Hodson, assistant chief of the op
erations division; Allan Brun-
stein, meteorologist; John Pahl,
chief of the engineering division
of the Bureau of Air Safety, and
George Baker, inspector for the
Bureau of Safety.
Jim Wood Named
Group Chairman
James F. Wood, Piedmont
chief engineer, has been elected
1960 chairman for the local serv
ice division of the airlines En
gineering and Maintenance Con
ference.
Mr. Wood and Howard Cart
wright, superintendent of main
tenance, attended a three-day
meeting of the conference, spon
sored by the Air Transport As
sociation, at New Orleans Oc
tober 19-21.