.Iiine/.Iuly. 197(i
Vol. XXVII. No. \
Second quarter report includes profit prediction
At the halfway point it looks like 1976 may
well be among the most profitable years Pied
mont has ever experienced.
This w'as the prediction of President T. H.
Davis in his report to stockholders on the
results of the second quarter of this Bicenten
nial year.
Senior Vice President T. W. Morton made
equally encouraging remarks when he released
the financial figures for the period.
Their optimism w'as based on these results.
|The Company as a whole reported a net income
*of $2,145,164, or 86 cents per share, for the
second quarter of this year. This was an in
crease of 180 per cent over the $766,322, or 31
cents per share for the second quarter of 1975.
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Wi
Piedmont's new face in downtown Winston-Salem is
that of Venita Smith. The city ticket office in the lobby
of the Winston-Salem Hyatt House was opened in July.
In announcing the new facility S. C. Folger, assistant
vice president — marketing, said “We feel the down
town area of Winston-Salem is a most appropriate
location for an additional ticketing office. It will be an
obvious convenience not only for visitors to Piedmont's
home town but also for the business people in the area,"
Gross revenues rose 17 per cent from $42.3
million in the second quarter of last year to
$49.5 million this year. Costs and expenses were
$46.6 million for the April through June period
of this year, up 13 per cent from the $41.2 mil
lion in the comparable period last year.
The Airline Division posted a pre-tax profit
of $2,387,611 for the second quarter of this
year. Revenue passenger miles were up 12.21
per cent for the three months through June,
from 271,656,009 in 1975 to 304,818,033 this
year. The passenger load factor for the period
was 54.03 per cent this year as compared to
50.40 per cent in 1975. Passenger boardings rose
9.24 per cent during the second quarter, from
930,383 last year to 1,016,316 at the end of June
this year.
For the first six months of 1976, revenue
passenger miles increased 10.83 per cent. There
were 545,788,924 revenue passenger miles flown
through June of this year as compared to 492,-
472,573 during the same period last year.
The passenger load factor for January
through June, 1976 was 50.20 per cent. For the
first half of last year it was 46.37 per cent.
Passenger boardings for the first half of
1976 totaled 1,842,582, up 8.76 per cent over
the 1,694,123 passengers can-ied during the
first six months of 1975.
For the first six months of 1976, Piedmont
Aviation, Inc. had a net income of $406,269 as
compared to a loss of $2,372,989 in the same
period last year.
The Company’s gross revenues foi- the first
half of this year were up 13 per cent to $89.4
million from $79.3 million during the same
period of 1975.
Costs and expenses rose 8 per cent for the
January through June period this year to $88.8
million. For the same period last year, costs
and expenses totaled $82.5 million.
Thus Piedmont’s historical first quarter loss
has been overcome in the second quarter of
1976. The Company enters its traditionally most
profitable period — the last six months of the
year — with a profit rather than with a big
loss as was the case in 1975.
As Morton said in the financial news re
lease, “A continuation of the trends shown in
the second quarter should make 1976 one of
Piedmont’s best years.”
We're number one!
Love that top spot!
According to the latest — June — report
from the Civil Aeronautics Board’s Off'ice of
the Consumer Advocate Piedmont has the
happiest passengers, or fewest complaints per
100,000 boardings, of all the airlines.
That includes both trunk and regional
carriers and covers the entire first half of 1976.
The monthly reports show Piedmont ranked
number one in the industry for February, April
and June. For January and March we were
in the number two spot, industry wide. May was
our worst month when we placed third in the
rankings.
Among the regionals. Piedmont held first
place for January, February, April and June.
We were number two for March and May of
this year.
Averaged out, that puts us on top at the
halfway point in the year. It won’t be an easy
position to maintain. But it wasn’t easy to get
there in the first place (pun intended). Pied
mont’s people pleasers will have to keep our
customers happiest if we’re to keep that top
spot. The competition is way too close foi- com
fort. At the end of June, Delta was in second
place, only .04 behind us.
Being on or near the top in this ranking has
almost become traditional with Piedmont. In
four out of the six years since the reports were
initiated by the CAB Piedmont has been num
ber one among the regional airlines. The othei-
two years we were second in the regional
category. We’ve also been very near the top
industry wide. We came in second — to Delta —
in 1974 and 1975.
The record book shows that a regional has
yet to come out as number one for the year.
With a concerted effort Piedmont has an excel
lent chance to change that. Let’s be number one
of all the airlines for 1976. We know we have
the nicest customers. Let’s show them off' as the
happiest too.
Trained employee saves child
Barely one month after completing the basic
life support course in cardiopulmonary resusci
tation res agent Jean Satterfield saved a child
from choking.
“I was having a late breakfast in a Char
lotte restaurant,” said Jean. “A family with
two children, a girl about 3 or 4 and a boy about
6, were seated nearby. Suddenly the little girl
started coughing violently and choking. She
was sitting by her father on a booster seat.
The father first tried holding her arms over
her head. The mother attempted to give her
water. The father then tried hitting her on the
back. By this time the child was turning blue.
“I went over and said ‘Let me help!’ After
putting both of her feet on the floor I applied
the Heimlich method to stop the choking. On
the first quick thrust into her abdomen a huge
glob of hamburger came up. She was scared,
crying and messy from the water and the ham
burger. But she was breathing!”
“A person whose trachea is obstructed by
bolus of food can’t breathe, can’t speak, turns
cyanotic and collapses. He has only four minutes
to live — unless you save him,” says Jean.
The method Jean used with the little girl
in Charlotte is called the Heimlich Maneuver.
It was developed by Dr. Henry J. Heimlich of
Cincinnati. A relatively new procedure, the
Heimlich Maneuver is actually very simple. All
you need is two arms and two fists. It can be
used for a choking victim who is sitting or
standing. There are four steps. First, stand
behind the victim and wrap your arms around
his waist. Then place your fist, thumb side
against the victim’s abdomen, slightly above
the navel and below the rib cage. Grasp the fist
with your other hand. Press your fist into the
victim’s abdomen with a quick upward thrust.
Repeat several times if necessary.
Jean received her training in cardiopulmon
ary resuscitation (CPR), in a course conducted
by the American Red Cross at Piedmont’s Gen
eral Office earlier this year. She was certified
in the basic life support course in March. Later
she took another course and became an instruc
tor in CPR. In addition Jean has had courses
in first aid, mouth to mouth resuscitation and
water safety.
Jean, a res agent for Piedmont since 1970,
participated in the first of a number of planned
training programs for Piedmont employees.
A story about the Company’s interest in
these basic life support courses is on page five.
from choking
Ted Thompson plays victim for Jean's demonstratio
of the Heimlich Maneuver.