me fieamonim
Merry
Christmas!
VOL. VII, NO. 12
JP40 — CELEBRATING TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF SERVICE — 1963
DECEMBER, 1965
^ ,
f
Davis, Tom,
PIEDMONrS FIRST FAMILY - Juliana, Wendy, Mrs
Jr., and Amanda — wish you all a Merry Christmas
Davis,
Nancy,
Davis, Britt
Receive
Appointments
President T. H. Davis has been
named to direct transportation
centers in the Southeastern
United States in the event of a
national emergency.
John Connor, secretary of com
merce, made the appointment in
Washington. Mr. Davis is one of
eight men named a regional di
rector. The appointees are pri
vate businessmen who serve as
“executive reserves” in the U. S.
Office of Emergency Transporta
tion.
The region for which Mr. Da
vis is responsible includes North
and South Carolina, Georgia, Ten
nessee, Florida, Alabama and
Mississippi.
Undersecretary of Commerce
for Transportation Allan S. Boyd
said the appointees were select
ed because of their achievements
in the transportation industry.
In an emergency they would di
rect regional offices which would
become focal points of civil trans
portation services for the move
ment of all kinds of passenger
and freight traffic.
Don Britt, assistant to Mr. Da
vis, has been named Vice-Chair-
raa’n of the Public Affairs Com
mittee of the Air Transport As
sociation. Chairman of this group
is Maurice Lethbridge who is
the vice president of civic af
fairs for Eastern Airlines.
The committee is responsible
for co-ordinating legislative ac
tivities at the state level as they
affect commercial aviation.
(AT RIGHT)-ON THE GROUND
AT TRI Piedmont and Douglas of
ficials are all smiles as they line
up with the DC-9. From left, Doug
las co-pi!ot Roger Conant, Douglas
Sales Director A. R. Reaume, Vice
President G. C. Brown, Director
Egbert Davis, Douglas pilot A. G.
Heimerdinger, and Vice President
H. K. Saunders.
Earth Bound Travelers
Editor’s Note: Bluefleld is one
of Piedmont’s middle-size stations.
The following story appeared in
Aiercer County’s local paper and
provides a good example of the
part Piedmont plays in many of
the cities on our system.
By FRAZIER MTLLER
Are you with Mercer County’s
overwhelming majority of “land
lovers?”
The airplane has been around
for many years. Actually, it’s
been here for nearly 62 years.
Commercial flight has been
around for a good while too, well
over a generation.
Yet right here in Mercer Coun
ty, an educated guess is that 65
or perhaps 70 percent of the
county’s 68,000 or so residents
have never set foot in or flown
in an airplane.
Eddie Jones, Piedmont air
lines manager at Mercer Coun
ty Airport, was asked to hazard
a guess as to how many county
residents have never flown.
“I would say well over half,”
the Piedmont official said.
There is no accurate way to
determine just how many county
residents have or have not
(ContiniH'd on Page Tliree)
The President Extends
Greetings For Your Holidays
Christmas — again — so soon! And the end of another year.
It seems only six months or less since last Christmas. Yet,
so very much has been accomplished. For our company many
new records have been made and we have provided more service
to more people than ever before. I hope it has been eciually as
successful, satisfying and constructive for each of you individually
and for your family.
I believe it’s a mighty good thing that Christmas comes near
the end of the year. The traditional spirit of “Peace on Earth —
good will toward men” couldn’t be a better theme on which to
close the old year and bring in the new.
It is a good time too, to reflect on your accomplishments dur
ing the past year and be thankful for all the good things that
have come our way.
Last year our company was honored to have been invited to
make a presentation to the New York Society of Security Analysts
—a group who studies and appraises the achievements, failures,
successes and future potential of many companies throughout the
country.
While preparing for this presentation — which included in
formation on where Piedmont stands in relation to other similar
companies — I, of course, did a lot of reflecting on our past
accomplishments.
It was rather amazing to see, when all put together in one
speech, how consistently Piedmont was always in the top category
of every meaningful measure of achievement. In load factor, pas
senger miles, employment, miles flown, operating costs, schedules
completed, earnings and many other criteria — Piedmont, over
the years, has been at or near the top of the list. And we have
done this despite the fact that we operate over some of the
roughest terrain in the country, we don’t serve many large cities
and, on the contrary, we serve many small cities relatively close
together.
How did we do it? Certainly no one person or department can
take credit for it. The obvious answer, it seems to me, is an un
usually high caliber of devoted PEOPLE. It seems trite to say^ it,
but Piedmont is no better than the people in it. People working
unselfishly as individuals devoted to a common objective of good
service to the public and the success which follows. People who
think for themselves and do not depend on others to do for them
what they can and should do for themselves. People who accept
their responsibilities to their family and their company. People
who are responsible citizens and believe sincerely in peace and
good will at home, in our community, our country and throughout
the world. That’s the kind of people Piedmont is made of — or
we could never have accomplished so much.
So — at this Christmas time, my family and I are grateful
for the privilege that has been ours to be associated with such a
great group of people. We extend our very best wishes to you
and your family for a Merry Christmas and a New Year just like
you would want it to be. —T. H. Davis
DC-9 Makes PM Trial Run
still shopping for a jet, the Piedmont officials tried out an
other jet aircraft on December 7th.
The demonstration flight on the Douglas DC-9 included stops
at Hickory and Tri-Cities before returning to INT.
The Piedmont officers, who
£7 £/
wit •'*
are testing several types of jets
to determine which will be best
for Piedmont’s purposes, check
ed the DC-9’s performance sta
tistics and seemed happy with
what they found.
INT station manager Jack
Brandon, commenting on the 14
minute flight from INT to HKY
said, “That kind of fhght time
will give our communications
set up some problems.”
The Douglas DC-9 is a twin
fan jet aircraft powered by two
Pratt & Whitney by-pass fan-
jet engines. These turbo-fan en
gines are mounted on the rear
fuselage.
The DC-9 has a wing span of
89.4 feet and a length of 104.4
feet. The plane is 27.5 feet high
and boasts a maximum take-off
weight of 90,700 pounds.
This aircraft has the capability
of flying Atlanta / Asheville /
Winston - Salem / Washington /
Baltimore without refueling at
intermediate stops.
The DC-9 is the second jetliner
examined by Piedmont. A more
extensive demonstration of a
Boeing 727, standing in for the
smaller 737, was conducted in
October.