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See Page Three
VOL. XII, NO. 3
NOW AN ALL JET-POWERED AIRLINE!
MARCH, 1970
William R. Asher
Sales Manager — Chicago
ASHER MOVES
TO CHICAGO AS
SALES MANAGER
Former Washington Sales Rep
Bill Asher has been promoted to
Sales Manager for Piedmont’s new
territory in Chicago. The an
nouncement was made by General
Sales Manager Sheri Folger.
Asher, who is a native of Louis
ville, Kentucky, joined the Com
pany as an agent there in 1966. He
transferred to Washington and was
promoted to Sales Rep two years
later.
Prior to joining Piedmont Asher
attended Bellarmine College and
the University of Louisville. He
also served with the U. S. Air
Force.
Mrs. Asher is the former Mar
lene Fisher of Keswick, Iowa. They
have two sons.
The address for Piedmont’s
Chicago Sales Office is 36 South
Wabash Avenue, Suite 1218. The
office will open April 1st.
R. K. Waugh
Manager — Huntington
New HTS Manager
Is Robert Waugh
Robert K. Waugh has been
named Station Manager at Hunt
ington. He replaces Walt Ryczek
who was promoted to Manager for
the new Central Reservations Of
fice.
Prior to this move Waugh was
manager at Columbus. He had
been there since 1968.
Waugh joined Piedmont as an
agent in Hot Springs in 1955. He
was named Manager there in 1964.
Before coming to Piedmont
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An Unusual Charter Over The Chesapeake Bay.
Martins Utilized In "Life-line Operation
n
Piedmont’s charter fleet of five
Martin 404 aircraft have been fly
ing some interesting and unusual
trips since their retirement from
scheduled service in February.
One of the most fascinating ven
tures of the charter Martins actual
ly started before they were re
tired.
The story really began, on a
windy day late in January when
the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel
was severed by a Navy ship that
was blown through it during a
windstorm.
Vital Link
The bridge itself connects the
Eastern Shore and mainland Vir
ginia. Since the removal of the
ferries several years ago when
the bridge-tunnel was completed
it has been the only link between
the shores.
Immediately after the accident
the Navy provided temporary air
service across the Bay with heli
copters. Then Landing Craft Util
ity barges were used. They had
buses on them for the passenger-
commuters to ride in.
The State of Virginia then took
over the shuttle service and pro
vided it by chartering a Piedmont
Martin 404. The operation was
handled through Virginia’s De
partment of Civil Defense. Seeing
their approach to air shuttle ser
vice might give airlines some good
ideas.
State Picks Up Tab
The service was free to the pas
sengers and designated for essen
tial travel only. The transportation
was provided on a priority basis.
The first category was for people
whose employment required regu
lar trips from home to the other
side of the Bay. The next classi
fication was for persons requiring
medical attention on the other side
of the Bay from their homes. Re
maining seats were allotted on a
space available basis. In the initial
announcement of the service by tl
State it was emphasized that it
was not for sightseers. Just be
fore the repair work was complet
ed a Civil Defense Department
spokesman reported that they had
had very few problems with sight
seers looking for a free flight. One
reason might have been that for
every flight there was Virginia
State Policemen stationed next to
the man who assigned the seats.
They said this was standard pro
cedure for any situation handled
by the CD department. One pas
senger remarked that the patrol
man’s presence certainly cut down
on any complaints that might have
been voiced.
Two Departures
The morning and afternoon shut
tle schedule operated between
Piedmont’s General Aviation
Terminal at the Norfolk Regional
Airport and the Accomack County
Airport at Melfa on the Eastern
Shore. The two round trips a day
were arranged to be most con
venient for workers, departing
early in the morning and late in
the afternoon.
The situation of the bridge being
out was one of almost disaster pro
portions for the residents of the
Eastern Shore. The flights to the
mainland actually constituted a
“life-line” operation. With excep
tion of telephone contact, the peo
ple were virtually cut off, as one
military rider expressed it,” from
civilization itself.”
But there seemed to be little
awareness of that on board the
actual flights. The passengers
thoroughly enjoyed pointing out to
each other their houses and their
friends’ houses from the air. The
novelty of flying to work created
more of a sightseeing trip atmos
phere than anything else, for
many, if not most, of the passen
gers, had never flown before.
Friendly Flights
Because of the situation itself
the crews reported that this
charter was unlike any they’d ever
flown before. They acquired a
whole new host of friends while
the trip ran and were somewhat
sentimental about their good-byes
on the last flight when the bridge
re-opened.
Besides the flight crew, a Pied
mont agent from Norfolk went on
every flight. There was an occa
sional bag to be loaded and usual
ly some mail to be boarded. It was
a different kind of agent’s duty
too, but those who tried it seemed
to like it.
During the 23 days that the
“bridge charter” operated a total
of 2,294 people were flown back
and forth across the bay on 46
flights. More than 3,598 other peo
ple were transported via other
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Examiners
Decisions
Announced
A Civil Aeronautics Board Exam
iner has recommended Piedmont
be allowed to provide non-stop ser
vice between Richmond and St.
Louis. If the Board’s final decision
is favorable, this would extend
Piedmont’s route system into Mis
souri for the first time as well as
adding another major market to
the Company’s network of cities.
Involved with Piedmont in this
case was Eastern Airlines. The Ex
aminer recommended Eastern for
the non-stop service to St. Louis
between Greensboro, Raleigh/Dur
ham and Charlotte.
Piedmont Pleased
Commenting on the Examiner’s
decision President Davis said “We
are pleased that the Examiner rec
ognizes the need for extension of
Piedmont service to St. Louis, and
we are hopeful that the final Board
approval will permit us to provide
this new service from the North
Carolina cities as well as Rich
mond.”
The Company will ask that the
Board review the application- in
which Piedmont requested author
ity to serve St. Louis from the
North Carolina points and Rich
mond.
In other route developments the
date has been set for Piedmont’s
inauguration of service into
Charleston, South Carolina. Start
ing April 26th the Company will
operate one round trip a day be
tween Cincinnati, Louisville, Tri-
Cities, Columbia and Charleston.
Another flight to Charleston will
be via Roanoke, Greensboro, Char
lotte and Columbia. The four flights
will utilize both YS-11 and FH-227
equipment.
AGS/CAE Case
In the Additional Service to Co
lumbia and Augusta Case the ex
aminer has recommended that
Piedmont be allowed to provide
non-stop service from Augusta
and Columbia to New York and
Washington/Baltimore.
Another case, Norfolk-New York
Non-Stop, has also been decided
by the Examiner. His recommen
dation favored Piedmont.
In all of these cases the final
decisions have not yet been an
nounced, but are expected within
a reasonably short period of time,
perhaps by this fall.
In the North Carolina Points
Case the Board Examiner has rec
ommended Piedmont be allowed to
serve New York via both Raleigh/-
Durham and Greensboro High
Point,
ONE OF THE CREWS that flew a lot of the charter trips across the
Chesapeake included Stewardess Phyllis Terrell of Norfolk, Captain
Harold Norton of Roanoke and F/O Owen Brown of Norfolk.
Annual Report
For Last Year
Is Published
Piedmont’s Annual Report for
1969, the Company’s 30th year of
operation, has been published and
mailed to stockholders.
The report revealed that total
revenues increased 17% over 1968
to a new high of $69,357,043. Total
expenses and other costs were up
22% to $73,097,473.
The net loss amounted to $.92 per
share or $1,856,616, compared to
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