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fyf/EDman/rere
October/November/December, igyg
Editorial
You've been asked
As an air traveller, the government is asking
for your comments on a proposal that would
ban the smoking of cigars and pipes on all
commercial airplanes. They’d also like to know
how you feel about whether smoking of all
kinds should be forbidden on all flights. They
further profess an interest in your views on
whether present rules restricting smoking to
specified areas should be tightened.
The Civil Aeronautics Board initially pro
posed the ban on pipes and cigars on October 5
this year. Comments were invited on the ques
tion of all smoking aboard flights at the same
time. The deadline for public comment was
originally set for November 8.
But the Board said Action on Smoking and
Health (ASH), the group which asked for the
cigar and pipe ban, requested another 90 days to
participate in the proceedings. The Board grant
ed a 60 day delay, until January 23, 1977.
So if you meant to write, but didn’t get
around to it, you still have an opportunity.
It doesn’t seem to be too often that the
government gives us the first chance to contri
bute our thoughts before they make our rules.
To give us a second chance is more than we
should pass up.
The Tobacco Institute already has told the
CAB it does not believe a ban is warranted.
Among other things, the institute said current
rules discriminate against smokers by forcing
them to sit in less desirable seats in the back
of planes.
The airline industry generally agrees. The
ban would be an unwarranted intrusion into the
carriers’ inflight service operations. We must
consider our service to smoking passengers as
well. Current regulations allow us to accommo
date the preferences of all passengers. To totally
prohibit smoking aboard all aircraft would
show undue and unreasonable preference to non-
smokers. More rigid rules would probably bene
fit one group of passengers at the definite
expense of another.
The Federal Aviation Administration has
conducted exhaustive tests which proved the
air flow in the cabins of airliner planes is suf
ficient to eliminate any problem.
After all, we are based in Cigarette City, but
these are not just Piedmont’s feelings. Nearly
all carriers have expressed similar positions
on the proposal.
You’ve been asked how you feel. And you’ve
been given an extended chance to say what you
think. You should write the Docket Section,
Docket 29044, Civil Aeronautics Board, Wash
ington, D.C.20428.
If you think you might want to gripe later,
you should comment now. That way you’ll at
least be able to complain with a clear — I tried
— conscience.
Piedmont Aviation, Inc.
Betsy Allen, Editor
Smith Reynolds Airport
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
RIRU06 EDITOR/
iS J.
How well do you know
your equipment?
Depending on just how observant you are, you may be able to find up to four items on this Boeing 737 that are
not actually on Piedmont's 737s. In case you don't see anything out of place, the answer is on page five.
Industry notes
Pan-Am gets first domestic route
The Civil Aeronautics Board has granted
Pan American World Airways its first domestic
route. The new Detroit-Boston route authority
was granted to both Pan-Am and North Central.
The route, currently served only by American
Airlines, was described by the CAB as one of
the largest aviation monopoly markets in the
U.S. Pan Am has long sought domestic routes
either to feed passengers into its network of
international flights, or to fill up planes flying
the domestic legs of overseas-bound trips.
What’s better today?
Commercial airline service is one of only
three services and products that are better
now than they were five or 10 years ago.
That’s what a national sample of 2500 male
and female adults revealed when a market
research firm asked them to compare the quality
of 15 services and products today versus the
recent past.
The items covered many fields, but only air
line service, newspapers and telephone service
were given more positive than negative votes.
Among the other products and services included
in the survey were popular music, food served in
restaurants, movies, furniture and auto servic
ing.
In another national survey sponsored by U.S.
News and World Report magazine the U.S.
airlines rated highest among 20 major indus
tries. This survey’s results were based on 5448
returned questionnaires. Participants ranked
performance of 20 major industries as follows
(l=poor job, 7=excellent job):
Average
Rating
1. Airlines 5.17
2. Banks 5.05
3. Trucking companies 4.61
4. Large department stores 4.59
5. Tire manufacturers 4.57
6. Retail food chains 4.53
7. Appliance manufacturers 4.44
8. Steel manufacturers 4.37
9. Life insurance companies 4.31
10. Drug manufacturers 4.30
11. Food manufacturers 4.23
12. Electric utilities 4.16
13. Construction companies 4.13
13. Gas utilities 4.13
15. Service stations 3.98
16. Appliance repair services 3.54
17. Automobile manufacturers 3.53
17. Oil and gas companies 3.53
17. Automobile dealers 3.53
20. Railroads 3.16
X-ray ok for film
A new ruling from the Federal Aviation
Administration confirms that the airlines’
X-ray search of carry-on baggage is safe for
ordinary film.
Harry J. Murphy, director of security for
the Air Transport Association, noted that the
new rule takes efl^ect April 4, 1977. Under the
rule, airlines operating X-ray machines at a
radiation level of less than one milliroentgen
will post signs informing passengers that the
machines will not damage ordinary film but
that X-ray and highly sensitive scientific film
could be damaged and should be removed.
Passengers not wishing to expose any photo
graphic equipment or film packages to the X-
ray system may request, under the new rule,
that their carry-on baggage be inspected by
hand.
Manners contest may help
The American Hotel and Motel Association
has started an educational program to teach
travellers good manners. If it works, it may
also help the airlines.
The program includes a contest in which
hotel and motel guests compete for prizes by
writing anti no-sho\v slogans.
The campaign began after the association
computed that about one in every 10 reserva
tions made in the U.S. turns out to be a no-show.
The guest makes a reservation, fails to arrive
and doesn’t bother to cancel.
“Since the average price of a room these
days is around $30 and no-show rooms generally
go empty, the loss to the lodging industry is
about $300 million a year,” said Harry Mullikin,
chairman of the association.
The group’s campaign also includes public
service announcements on radio and television
to emphasize travellers’ responsibilities when
they make reservations.
American gets Montreal
The Civil Aeronautics Board selected, and
President Gerald Ford approved, American Air
lines to provide the first non-stop U.S. flag
service in the Chicago-Montreal market. Ameri
can has announced plans to inaugurate the
service on January 11, 1977. Their principal
competition on the route will come from Air
Canada and Air France.