piEomaniTOH
JULY/AUGUST, 1972
VOL. XXIII, NO. 5
June, July, and Second Quarter Set Records
The best financial results in Piedmont’s his
tory have been reported for both the first half
and the second quarter of 1972. Traffic figures
for the second quarter and the months of
June and July also reached all time xiighs.
Second quarter net earnings were $1,950,200
or 88(i per share, the highest ever. This profit
was considerably greater than losses incurred
during the first quarter, resulting in a net
profit of $1,162,800 or 53^^ per share for the
first half of the year.
A record for the largest number of pas
sengers carried in one day was set Friday, June
30th when 12,618 were boarded. The previous
record was 12,256 set November 28, 1971.
Total boardings for June showed a 15 per cent
increase over the same month last year, to
an all time high of 286,882. It was a record
that stood for only 31 days. July kept us in
the record breaking business by posting board
ings of 287,753.
June’s load factor was 54.42 per cent, an in
crease of 8 per cent over June, 1971. The
final load factor for July was barely under that
at 54.36 per cent.
The passenger load factor rose from 49.73
per cent in 1971 to 52.21 per cent for the first
half of this year.
Comparative traffic figures for the second
quarter show a 10.24 per cent increase over
the same period last year. During the second
quarter of this year 824,728 passengers were
boarded, bringing the total for the first half
of the year to 1,513,623.
These outstanding traffic figures readily
translate into a vastly improved revenue
picture.
Total gross revenues for the second quarter
increased 16 per cent over the same period in
1971 to $28,871,361. Gross revenues for the
six month period were $53,713,548 as compared
to $47,026,587 last year, an increase of 14 per
cent.
Revenues of the airline division increased
14 per cent during the second quarter to
$24,732,909 and 15 per cent during the first
half to $45,836,873 due primarily to a 10.3
per cent and 11.8 per cent growth respectively
in revenue passenger miles flown. Revenues
of the Company’s general aviation operations
improved from $3,133,341 in the second quar
ter of last year to $4,138,452 for the same
period this year. For the first half of this
year general aviation revenues were $7,876,657
as compared to $7,241,474 in 1971.
Total airline expenses increased approximate
ly 9 per cent for both the second quarter and
the six months period. Expenses for the air
line division were $20,652,992 during the sec
ond quarter of last year. This figure rose to
$22,461,554 in 1972. For the six months period,
expenses were $43,690,047 this year as com
pared to $39,950,215 in 1971.
In commenting on the report President Tom
Davis said “Historically our earnings during
the last half of the year are better than during
the first half. Accordingly, we anticipate that
the 1972 year-end results will be substantially
better than we have ever experienced.”
W/io or
What
Is
See
Page Three
Board Okays Plans
To Buy More Boeings
The Company’s Board of Directors has ap
proved plans for the Airlines Division to pur
chase two additional Boeing 737 jet aircrafts.
In making the announcement President Tom
Davis said “Recent growth in traffic and
our anticipation of new route awards will re
quire the addition of at least two more jets to
our fleet by the end of this year.”
The two planes, which the Company is buy
ing from United Air Lines, are expected to be
ready to go into service in December of this
year. They will be delivered separately, one
in early fall and the other a month later.
The planes will be re-equipped and standard
ized to Piedmont’s specifications. Seating con
figuration will be the same as in Piedmont’s
other Boeings, for 90 passengers.
With the additional equipment Piedmont will
have a total of 45 aircraft, 15 jets and 30 tur
boprop jets, in its fleet.
The Company owns all of its equipment with
the exception of one Boeing 737 which was
leased earlier this year. The leased plane also
came from United.
A/1 or/on Promoted
To Senior Vice President and Secretary
The Board of Directors has promoted
T. W. Morton to Senior Vice President and
Secretary of the Company. He formerly
held the positions of Vice President —
Finance and Secretary.
Morton, a native of Scranton, Texas,
joined Piedmont as a senior accountant in
1948. He attended Weatherford College,
Emory and Henry College and Harvard
Graduate Business School.
Morton is a former president of the Air
line Finance and Accounting Conference
of the Air Transport Association. He
was recently named to Who’s Who in
America and is a member of the Winston-
Salem Chamber of Commerce.
Mrs. Morton is the former Betty Kirby
of Lansing, North Carolina. They have
three sons.
T. W. MORTON