Newspapers / Piedmont Aviation Employee Newsletter / April 1, 1970, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE TWO THE PIEDMONITOR APRIL, 1970 THEPiEomonim Piedmont Aviation, Inc. Smith Reynolds Airport Winston-Salem, N. C. Betsy Allen, Editor Editorial Update On Insurance Piedmont’s new, now six months old, comprehensive medical plan is proving to be quite a bargain for employees. The change in plans was decided on in order to standardize the benefits, to keep up with changes in hospital practices and to provide coverage for all illnesses rather than Just certain ones. As is the case with any change there have been some general misunderstandings about the new program. Without getting too specific the following figures are an excellent indication of the vast improvement of Aetna’s plan over the old Blue Cross program. Since October, when the Aetna plan was instituted, nearly $220,000 has been paid in claims to approximately 1,100 Piedmont employees, whereas the old plan paid only $243,466.74 to Piedmont people for the entire year of 1968. There have been numerous questions about the record keeping involved with the new Aetna plan. It is true that the employee has more records to keep but this is because Aetna pays for so many more things than were covered under the old plan. For example, all Class A expenses, which means hospital charges, are paid in full up to $1,000. Over that figure Aetna pays 80% up to $20,000. All other expenses are Class B and after the $50 deductible are paid at the 80% rate. These Class B expenses include all prescribed drugs, rental of medical equipment, x-ray readings, home, office and hospital visits by physicians and special ist fees. Even dental and optical expenses are covered if injuries are accidental. If you have not had any accidents or serious illnesses in your family in the last several years you may be unaware of the changes in hospital practices. It used to be that if you went to the emergency room you were treated by a hospital employee, nurse, intern or whatever. This is no longer the case. Normally now a specialist will be called in. The doctor is usually in private practice and is on call for the hospital. His bill therefore is not a hospital charge and thus is a Class B expense. However, because the doctor is offering his services through the hospital, the hospital does his billing. His charges will probably appear on your hospital bill. In this situation Aetna pays 100% of the actual hospital bill, up to $1,000, but the doctor’s bill is covered, after the $50 deductible, under the 80% rate. A genuine believer in the new insurance program is a recently transferred employee whose wife’s recurring illness worsened just after Aetna took over the Company’s medical coverage. Having had to file several claims under the old program he says “there is just no comparison.” His experience with both plans has been ex tensive and he expressed conviction that the new program is actually worth more than an increase of $100 a month in his salary. Prior to the change he found it necessary to carry two medical policies “just to keep up with the bills. There was no way to come out anywhere near even,” he reported. He went so far as to say that conservatively he feels the Aetna program is at least five times better. “Without this insurance 1 don’t know how I would have ever taken care of such extensive bills,” he said. The Aetna Plan is also proving itself more acceptable on a system-wide basis than did the former program. Blue Cross was set up under the North Carolina division of that company. Its programs differed from state to state and occasionally problems arose with Piedmont employees outside of North Carolina when they presented their North Carolina Blue Cross plans to out of state hospitals. t The little blue Aetna identification cards are accepted in all 50 states and throughout the world. There may be a rare instance when a new hospital employee will be unfamiliar with the Aema card. If this should happen you should have the hospital call Mrs. Kathryn Spainhour at INT-Accounting. If you have any questions about your insurance program please check with your supervisor or Mrs. Spainhour. The Company wants you to fully understand it so that you may take advantage of the improved benefits. Congrats 25 YEARS William B. Robbins—Maint. Foreman, INT 20 YEARS Charles F. Wiesner—Foreman, INT-FB Ralph C. Dampier—Records Supervisor, INT Gilbert W. Hurst-F/0, INT Wilbur A. Blackmon—Asst, to Sr. V.P., INT William A. Finein, Capt., ORF 15 YEARS Frances G. Hand—Executive Sec., INT 10 YEARS J. F. Johnson—Ld. Agent, ILM 5 YEARS F. R. Foster, Jr.—Mech., CVG J. E. Shaw—Agent, FAY J. P. Coon-Sr. Stk. Clk., ROA J. M. Swicegood—Sr. Radio Tech., INT Linda P. Fulton—Stewardess, INT Jean C. Hollar—Stewardess, ILM L. W. Martin, Jr.—Mech. Spec., INT Around the System PROMOTIONS p. W. Nettles-to Ld. Agent, CLT Z. J. Charles—to Sr. Spec., INT J. R. Giles—to Sr. Spec., ROA C. J. Hart—to Sr. Radio Tech., INT B. H. Hartman—to Mech. Spec., INT R. W. Simmons—to Mech., INT R. R. Foster—to Sr. Mech., CVG G. G. Huguley—to Radio Tech., ILM P. E. Jarrell—to Ld. Agent, ATL R. E. Cashatt—to Chief Agent, GSO E. L. Walch—to Chief Agent, INT-CRO L. R. Welch, Jr.—to Chief Agent, INT-CRO K. S. Beckner—to Mech., ROA G. C. Daughtry—to Mech. Spec., INT D. F. Davis—to Sr. Spec., INT J. A. Hart, Jr.—to Sr. Radio Tech., INT D. L. Kiser—to Sr. Spec., INT J. M. Leslie—to Mech., ROA T. D. Miller-to Radio Tech., INT J. M. Swicegood—to Sr. Radio Tech., INT G. D. Clark—to Chief Agent, INT-CRO H. L. Cox—to Station Mgr., GSO J. E. Haney—to Ld. Agent, ATL M. L. Horn—to Chief Agent- Training, INT-CRO P* E. Jarrell—to Ld. Agent-Ops., ATL J. C. Queen—to Ld. Agent, AVL K. N. Scarboro—to Ld. Agent, FAY T. W. Steelman—to Chief Agent, INT-CRO R. S. Stepp—to Station Mgr., SHD D. E. Tedder—to Chief Agent- Training, INT-CRO C. W. Belton—to Sr. Mech., ATL R. 0. Clark—to Sr. Mech., DOA TRANSFERS M. L. Sherry—INT to ATL S. A. Small-ORF to TYS N. P. Robinson—TYS to DCA W. F. Rankin—LEX to CHS W. A. Bone-RMT to INT-CRO S. K. Jones-INT to ILM D. J. Lynn-DCA to INT J. M. Floyd-ATL to ILM B. J. Anderson—DCA to ATL HOW GOES IT? Mechanically speaking the March statistics revealed the following: Mechanical Dispatch Reliability Actual Forecast FH-227 98.0% 99.4% YS-llA 98.7% 99.0% B-737 97.9% 99.0% On-Time Performance of flights operated not more than 15 minutes late 68.3% Load Factor Actual Quota Forecast 44.13% 44.41% '"Hats Off To Maintenance, INT'' On March 31st, it was necessary to send the aircraft^^ scheduled to originate flight 961 at INT to RIC to replace^P N159 with an aihng engine air intake cowl. The aircraft arrived at INT off of a non-revenue fhght RIC-INT at 12:00. The aihng air intake cowl was examined and upon inspection it was determined that a new intake cowl was required before the aircraft could originate fhght 961. By this time it was 12:20, 40 minutes until schedule time. An estimate of the delay anticipated was issued to Dispatch. J. W. Norman, R. R. Burke, W, L. Hendricks, J. D. Samples, and J. R. Greene were assigned to replace the air intake cowl and apparently were not happy with the estimated delay. Within 40 minutes the new air intake cowl had been changed, functionally checked, and the aircraft was on the fhght line at 1300. The flight departing only 18 minutes late. For you who are not familiar with the work required to replace an air intake cowl, the following is a very brief break down: Remove propeller, replace air intake cowl, re-install prop, conduct functional check of prop and air intake cowl, and check for oil leak after engine run-up. This is just one of many example displayed by the maintenance personnel which has made it possible for Piedmont to attain one of the best dispatch reliability in the industry. —J. W. Johnson Ode To Maintenance Confrollers Controllers, take heed, this message indeed. For the truth I shall unfold. Come on, think fast, full throttle, more speed, For the blood of the brass runs cold. So your nerves are shot, and you’re tempted with pot. Watch out, keep up that shield. Now your ulcers may cry, but look to the sky. Your reward just buzzed the field. —J. B. Matching The Reds Every time Russia makes an advance in space, or whatever, there’s new talk that the communists are about to “overtake” us. Let’s put that in perspective. If we wanted to match the Soviet economy we’d have to: —Tear down 60 per cent of our homes. ■—Demolish 60 per cent of our steel mills. —Rip up two thirds of our railroad tracks. ■—Destroy nine out of every 10 telephones. •—And reduce our standard of living a full 60 per cent. Maybe we should spend less time worrying about their system and concentrate on preserving ours. —Nation’s Business
Piedmont Aviation Employee Newsletter
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April 1, 1970, edition 1
2
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