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VOL. VIII, NO. 6
THE BEST WAY TO TRAVEL — ALL OVER PIEDMONTLAND
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Story of
PIEDMONT'S
IMAGE - MAKER
See Page Three
JUNE, 1966
Division Station Supervisors Named
The new building will extend 20 feet out from the North Finger.
DCA Station To Begin Renovation
Plans for construction of new
and improved facilities for Pied
mont’s operations at Washing
ton National airport have been
announced.
A number of projects have
been approved by the necessary
authorities and construction
should begin within the next
week.
Washington Station Manager
Don Shanks described a new op
erations building and office
space to be built on the east side
of the north finger at North
Terminal as having approximate
ly 2500 square feet of space.
Shanks said “This addition to
Piedmont’s area at National
should greatly facilitate an im
proved handling of passenger
traffic.”
Building’s Dimensions
The new structure will extend
outwards about 20 feet from the
present north finger. The build
ing will be nearly 118 feet long.
The layout of the structure calls
for a crew room, operations cen
ter and office space to be located
between what are now gates 29
and 30. The new maintenance fa
cility will also be located in this
area.
Presently the maintenance de
partment is located several hun
dred yards away in Page Air
ways Hangar 10. For the past
three years operations headquar
ters has been in a small truck
on the ramp. DCA operations
agents affectionately call it their
“pie wagon” operations office
(see picture below). The “pie
(wagon” steams in the summer
and freezes in the winter. On
hot summer days the wagon’s
air is conditioned by a sixteen-
inch fan and open doors on
either side and at the rear. The
five telephones above the “temp
orary table” against one wall
seem to never stop ringing.
Between the present gates 28
and 29 the new building will
house cabin service supplies and
storage room, a radio section and
an agent’s lounge.
New Res Office
Also on the list of improve
ments to be made is a new reser
vations office. The res office is
to be relocated on the second
floor of the American Airlines
hangar. The new facility will
have an immediate occupancy of
14 operations with a capability
of 20. The changed location of
reservations will also provide
adjacent space for a telephone
equipment room, communica
tions, a manager’s office and a
lounge.
The renovation plans also in
clude the present ticket counter
in the North Terminal to add
two additional check-in positions
to increase efficiency of handling
check-in traffic and to minimize
delay to passengers.
Modification and redecoration
of the concourse is also included
in the renovation plans. Attrac
tive awning-type signs will desig
nate gate positions. Gate 30,
which is located at the end of
the finger will have two check
in line positions instead of the
present one.
Cost of the improvements is
expected to be approximately
$50,000. Construction is due for
completion in about two months.
General Traffic Manager Ken
Ross has annoimced the promo
tions of Harold Gibson and
Bruce Parrish to Division Sta
tion Supervisors. Mr. Gibson will
remain in Roanoke and Mr.
Parrish, in Atlanta.
Mr. Gibson, an 18 year veteran
with the company, was born in
Pine Hall, N. C. After graduating
from Walnut Cove High School
he attended Elon College. He is
also a graduate of the A&E
Mechanic School in Gulfport,
Mississippi and the Engine Over
haul School in Ypsilanti, Michi
gan.
Following three years of ser
vice with the U. S. Air Force,
Mr. Gibson joined Piedmont as
an agent in Winston-Salem. In
subsequent years he worked in
the same capacity at Tri-Cities,
Danville and Greensboro. In 1950
he was promoted to Chief Agent
at GSO and in 1951 he became
GSO station manager. From this
position he went on to become
station manager at Roanoke in
1954.
Mr. Gibson is married to the
former Jane Lewis of Chapel
Hill, N. C. With their two chil
dren the Gibsons live at 10 Ben-
brook Circle in Roanoke.
In Roanoke Mr. Gibson is a
member of the Masonic Lodge
No. 629 and the Huntington
Court Methodist Church.
Mr. Parrish, a native of Golds
boro, N. C. is a graduate of Kings
Business College, Raleigh, North
Harold Gibson
Roanoke
Carolina and the Central Airline
School, Kansas City, Missouri.
He joined Piedmont in 1948 as
an agent at RDU. In 1949 Mr.
Parrish was promoted to Station
Manager in Danville. From DAN
he went to Asheville in the same
postition i n 1951. H e further
worked as station manager in
Fayetteville and Louisville until
1962 when he transferred to At
lanta, again as Station Manager.
Mr. Parrish is married to the
former Virginia McClary o f
Raleigh. The Parrish family lives
Bruce Parrish
Atlanta
at 123 Pleasant Valley Drive,
Morrow, Georgia.
In Atlanta Mr. Parrish is a
member of the Masonic Lodge,
Kiwanis Club and the Atlanta
Baseball Umpires Association.
He is also a deacon in the Pres
byterian Church.
In making the announcement
Ross also reported that Don
Sutphin of Washington and Leo
nard Martin of Atlanta had been
promoted to assistant Station
Managers for their respective sta
tions.
From Trailer Terminal to Terminal Terminal
Goldsboro Gets New Building
From a small trailer just
across the street from a pig pen,
to a brand new terminal building
that still has tractors in the
front yard. Piedmont’s Goldsboro
station has moved.
Since June 22, 1962 Piedmont
has carried out its GSB opera
tions in a tiny but well-organized
trailer terminal (see picture
I
4;
Reservations, at left, and Operations will have new facilities within 60 days.
above). This in itself is an in
teresting setting for an airline
station, but the locale surround
ing the trailer, and now the new
terminal is just as unique. Geo
graphically Goldsboro’s airport
is right at the edge of Seymour
Johnson Air Force base. The Air
Force and the commercial air
liners use the same landing field,
which belongs to the Air Force.
It is nearly three miles long.
Security Base
Seymour Johnson is a top se
curity military base. The fences
and posted precautions make it
seem much further away than
just across the field. To legally
enter the base one must drive a
little over three miles from the
Goldsboro airport.
When coming in to land at
GSB passengers look down on
rows of B-52’s and KC-135’s lined
up, ever ready for immediate
take off. When deplaning from
a PAI flight, passengers are re
quired to go directly to a little
blue Piedmont truck for a short
ride up a sandy street to the
terminal. Military regulations ex
pressly forbid any action that
even looks like loitering on the
landing field. The windowless
passenger truck is similar to a
U. S. Mail truck on the outside.
On the inside of the truck there
are two long black benches, one
on each side. Between the field
and the terminal the scenery is
not too cheerful. There is a small
graveyard. It is filled with old
greyed gravestones.
Terminal Bacliground
Wayne County and the City of
Goldsboro built the new termi
nal building. Too new to be ac
tually quaint, the airport is,
nevertheless, something out of
the ordinary. There is no airport
manager. The Airport Commis
sion takes, over the managerial
duties. The glass and wooden
structure boasts one ticket coun
ter — Piedmont is the only com
mercial airline serving Golds
boro — one Hertz telephone, one
insurance machine and one cold
drink machine. Piedmont’s six
GSB agents report that the near
est cup of coffee is a good four
miles away.
The first flight serviced in the
new terminal was PAI 652 on
(Continued on Page Three)