Newspapers / Piedmont Aviation Employee Newsletter / March 1, 1961, edition 1 / Page 3
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MARCH, 1961 THE PIEDMONITOR PAGE THREE A Visit to the World of Space Control McAlpbin Defoils Dept, Operations Maintaining records of sales and cancellations, setting up ex tra flight sections, and advising stations of the availability of space for sale changes are just a few of the functions of Pied mont’s Space Control. In an article written for The Piedmonitor, Space Control Man ager Bob McAlphin outlined a number of the duties of his of fice. Says Bob, “Space Control re sponsibilities are to the entire airline, not just to a particular station or office. We endeavor to make the best decision possible pertinent to the airline as a m. s m m PROCESS BEGINS at Teletype machines. Bob McAlphin tears off message at Space Control Teletype. The machines are for receiving only. Messages are sent through Communications Department next door. Both offices are located at INT Smith Reynolds Airport. Piedmont visitors are invited up at any time. Says Bob, "We w/elcome and are delighted to receive Piedmont personnel from the stations. In fact, I would encourage you to visit this office, because I have found from experience that a visit betvv'een mutual offices can certainly bring about better relation ships." ki; mm •fc'A-V • , ^ -f r: im FUTURE MESSAGES are distributed and handled from this sec tion of the office. Betty Hunter is shown keeping tabs on available space. whole. Some of the decisions out of this office mean the difference between getting much additional revenue for Piedmont or none at all. “Sometimes one of the sta tions will cancel a reservation and notify us to confirm one of their wait-list, when actually we confirm another wait-list to a down-line or up-line station en abling us to gain additional rev enue. This is why we have al ways stressed the importance of cancelling your reservations to us, and letting us do the confirm ing rather than confirming your own wait-list.” Reservation Steps Confirming reservations and setting up extra sections involve many steps. In outlining these procedures McAlphin says, ‘Here in the Space Control of fice we have four Teletype re ceiving machines, one from each circuit. Contrary to what many people believe, we do not send our own teletype messages. This is handled by the Communica tions Department which is lo cated next door. “Our teletype traffic is torn from the machines and separated into current and future. The cur rent is handled by our current board operator who also works the traffic dispatches. Flights are adjusted each time there is a booking or cancellation mes sage. As seats become available from cancellations or no-shows they are immediately confirmed to the stations. “Receipt of the traffic dis patches on time gives us and the Dispatcher’s Office a complete picture of the flights all over the system. “f'uture traffic is handled by our Reservation Agents, who also handle local reservations for Winston-Salem and vicinity. “In addition to our regular reservation table, we have a small shelved case with 30 clip boards attached. These are dated one through 30—one for each day of the month — and contain a chart for each flight operating that day. Charts Cheicked “A continual check is made of these charts to determine the status of flights. If conditions warrant, a request or wait-list message is sent to curtail sales so that we won’t have more pas sengers than we can take care of between any two points. We have found since the initiation of the seat allocation procedure that knowing when to call a flight in is of prime importance.” In setting up an extra flight section, Bob states that “A lot of planning and forethought is done before the final decision is made to set up an extra section. Extra Section “First, we have to make sure there is a sufficient number of passengers to warrant an extra section. After the decision is made, we then check with In spection to see if an extra air plane is available. After the air craft has been obtained, the parties concerned are notified so that the crew and other coordi nated factors can be set up. “After all this has been ac complished it is then up to the station concerned to follow through on each reservation to assure success of the extra sec tion and the regular flight.” Keeping tabs on passenger space is a complicated business. One of the main reasons Space Control operates with a mini mum of snarls is the staff, com posed of Betty Hunter, Betty Sugg, Ina Grant, Franklin Scott, LaVerne Rehder, Sara Kelty, and LOCAL RESERVATIONS are made from this area. Ina Grant makes a reservation for a Winston-Salem customer. Other Agents not on duty when photographs were taken include Franklin Scott, Betty Sugg, and Sara Kelly. headed by Bob McAlphin. Space Control Staff The average senority in the office runs almost eight years per Agent. Betty Hunter is the senior employee in Space Con trol, having joined Piedmont in 1948. She is a native of Cordova, Ala., attended high school in that city, and later received an A.B. degree from Duke Univer sity. Betty Sugg joined Piedmont’s Accounting Department in 1949, later transferring to her present office. She’s from Winston-Sa- lem and is married to First Of ficer Gene Sugg. Ina Grant is also from Win ston-Salem, and came with Pied mont in 1952. Ina is Space Con trol’s bowling enthusiast; she and her husband are both mem bers of a Friday night bowling league. Lead Agent Franklin Scott be gan his career with Piedmont in 1952 at Norfolk. Frank, who lists hunting as his chief hobby, has been with Space Control for two years. LaVerne Rehder started with Piedmont at Knoxville, Tenn., transferring to Space Control in March, 1957. She’s well qualified for aviation work, being the first woman in North Carolina to solo and the second to obtain her pri vate flying license. Sara Kelly attended school in her hometown of Salisbury, N. C., and joined the company in 1955. She’s done quite a bit of traveling since then and plans a trip to Europe this summer. Space Control’s Manager, Bob McAlphin, started his airline career at the National School of Aeronautics, Kansas City, Mo. After graduation he served with Delta Airlines before joining Piedmont’s Charlotte office. He was transferred to his present post in August, 1960. Says Bob, “My association with Piedmont has been wonderful, especially with its employees. My blessings in life have been many, with special emphasis on my wife and three small children.” As a parting word. Bob had this to say: “The Space Control office is only as good as the sta tion personnel make it. Without their cooperation it is impossible to maintain full control of seats, and without full control of seats we have ineffectiveness spread over many parts of the system. “I hope I have answered some of the questions that are asked from time to time about our of fice. Many things have been left out but I believe the most im portant phases have been covered. If any of the personnel would like additional informa tion, please write or come to see us. “I know of no other business where cooperation and coordina tion among the company employ ees is as essential as it is in the airline business.” I CURRENT BOARD and traffic dispatches are handled from above center. LaVerne Rehder checks operations of flights for current day. Con stant check is made on each flight from start to finish.
Piedmont Aviation Employee Newsletter
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March 1, 1961, edition 1
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