Newspapers / Piedmont Aviation Employee Newsletter / July 1, 1977, edition 1 / Page 2
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page two ^iBOfwiamrae July-October. 1977 Piedmont's first executive vice president dies William M. Magruder William M. Magruder, Piedmont’s first execu tive vice president, died of a heart attack on September 10, 1977 in Winston-Salem. He was 54 years old. Magruder joined Piedmont in the spring of 1973. Before joining the Company he had been a special consultant to President Nixon. Magruder became a well-known figure in aviation through his work as director of SST development for the Department of Transporta tion in the early 1970s. At his death the New York Times reported “it was a major frustra tion of his (Magruder’s) professional life that he was ultimately unable to persuade Congress to continue work on building two test models of the 1,800-mile-an-hour 300-passenger SST. “The campaign that finally defeated him, when the project was canceled in 1971, was fashioned by a coalition of environmentalists, who warned of noise and health hazards, and economists and legislators, who thought that the SST funds reflected a distortion of national priorities. “Magruder thought the cancellation was a mistake, that the two prototypes could have been completed and flown, and valuable data obtained without spending much more money than it took to liquidate the construction work. “In speeches around the country, he kept arguing that maintenance of the nation’s fore most position in aeronautical development was vital to its continued economic health. He be lieved the nation would eventually re-embark on an SST program, and that it could be undertaken by private industry. He favored an easing of the antitrust laws to enable two or more companies to cooperate on the venture.” Magruder, whose father, the late Maj. Gen Bruce M. Magruder, was on Gen. John J. Persh ing’s staff in World War I, was born in Evans' ton. 111., on May 26, 1923. He began flying in World War II in what was then the Army Air Corps. Returning to civilian life at war’s end he received an aeronautical engineering degree from the University of California, and then rejoined the Air Force serving from I949 to 1956 as task-force commander of the B-52 test program. He was awarded the Legion of Merit From 1956 to 1963 Magruder was with Douglas Aircraft Company, then with the Lock heed California Company until he joined the Federal SST project in 1971. Magruder is survived by his wife, the former Barbara Nethercutt; a son, William, Jr.; a daughter, Nancy; a brother, Bruce and his step mother, Ethel Magruder. Memorial services were held in Winston-Sa- lem and at Arlington National Cemetery where he is buried. Industry notes Flying saves taxpayers' money Everytime a passenger flies an airline in stead of riding Amtrak, the U.S. taxpayer saves about $23.67. The National Association of Motor Bus Operators calculated that 1976’s $406 million Amtrak shortfall amounted to $24 subsidy for each passenger. The U.S. scheduled airlines carried 223 million passengers in 1976 and the industry’s total subsidy bill was $73 million or 33^‘ per passenger. No souvenirs allowed It may be the most adorable animal or the prettiest plant you’ve ever seen, but it is best not to bring it back to the U.S. when you return from a trip abroad. Our own Air Transport Association says a live souvenir from overseas can be dangerous. Bringing forbidden plants or animals home may seem innocuous at the time, but even a couple of destructive parasites can multiply to epidemic numbers in a new environment that contains none of their natural enemies, said the ATA. In 1966, two African snails brought into Florida from Hawaii multiplied into more than 100,000 vegetable and housepaint-eating mol- lusks that took six years to eradicate. In 1971, a sick parakeet brought into southern California started an epidemic of Newcastle disease, and resulted in the death of 12 million infected or exposed pet birds and poultry. New Yorkers more sensitive Comparison study between a group of New York residents exposed to continual aircraft noise at John F. Kennedy International Airport and a group of Virginians who had not been exposed regularly to aircraft noise showed that the New Yorkers were more sensitive to various aircraft sounds, according to NASA. The study, conducted at the Langley Research Center Air craft Noise Reduction Laboratory, showed on the average that the noise level had to be 18 db higher for the Virginians to be sensitive to it. The data are still under analysis to determine whether any physical or personality factors explain the difference. Commuter passengers to double The Federal Aviation Administration’s “Forecasts of Commuter Airline Activity,” predicted passenger boardings on commuter carriers for the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico will increase at an overall annual rate of 7.6 per cent over the next decade. According to the report, the number of passengers carried is expected to more than double over the next decade, reaching 13.9 million by 1988. Coffee, tea or puppy chow? The Civil Aeronautics Board gave American Airlines special permission to carry 50 show dogs in the passenger sections of two com mercial flights to Bermuda in November. Ameri can gave assurances that the dogs would be “well behaved” and would be kept in cages beneath the owners’ seats. Around-the-world record set A Pan American Airways Boeing 747 holds the current speed record for an around-the- world flight. The specially designed jet carried 150 pas sengers on the record setting 54 hours and 7 minutes journey which terminated in San Francisco on October 30, 1977. The flight by a Boeing 747 sliced more than eight hours off the old record of 62 hours, 27 minutes set by a Boeing 707 cargo jet in 1965. The Pan Am jet traveled more than 26,000 miles and crisscrossed the North and South poles during the journey. It took off from San Francisco and flew by way of London, Cape Town and Auckland, New Zealand. The flight, organized by Pan Am to com memorate its 50th anniversary, carried a variety of passengers including beauty queens, nuclear scientists and a janitor from New Jersey. Joining the flight at Auckland was a veteran American aviation enthusiast, the 85-year-old company chairman, Talbert Abrams, of Lansing, Mich. Abrams, a World War I airman, has spent a fortune on similar trail-blazing flights; “Soon er or later, an airline will be given rights to fly commercial moon trips. As an old client I aim to be on it,” he said. Half-million flyers a day The scheduled airlines in this country now carry more than half a million passengers every day according to the ATA. Note to traveling pet lovers If you or your friends are planning to take pets along on a vacation trip, advance prepara tion is a good idea. Traveling with a pet may be likened to taking a baby along. Indeed, the task may be more difficult be cause the child will be at hand and can be watched. The dog or cat must travel in a kennel or pet carrier usually in the baggage compart ment on airplanes and trains. Experts advise taking the pet to the veterinarian for examina tion before a major trip, making sure to get a health certificate stating that the animal is free from any communicable disease and has received currently needed shots. It is wise to check desti nations before taking a pet along, to find out whether it will not be quarantined. In Hawaii, for example, there is a 120 day quarantine for dogs and cats, with a considerable charge for boarding and quarters. Some useful information on plane travel for pets can be found in the free booklet “How to Fly,” Air Transport Associa tion, 1709 New York Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. For a list of some 6,000 motels and hotels that accept travelers accompanied by dogs, send $1 to Gaines Research Center, Dept. T, P.O. Box 10007, Kankakee, IL 60901. For members only, the American Automobile Asso ciation also lists in its regional tour books places that accept pets. Number one choices American Airlines and the Boeing 747 are the Number One choices for domestic travel by members of the Airline Passengers Association, according to an association survey. For inter national flights, the winners were Pan Ameri can World Airways and the 747. The association said it received 12,980 responses from 38,255 members who were mailed the survey. Each member is a frequent flier, averaging about 40 commercial plane trips a year. American was named first on domestic flights by 27 per cent of the respondents, followed by United, 21 per cent; Delta, 12.8 per cent; Trans World Air ways, 12.7 per cent, and Continental, 12.1 per cent. American also was the winner of the last association survey, conducted in 1975. The re port did not include regional carrier preferences.
Piedmont Aviation Employee Newsletter
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July 1, 1977, edition 1
2
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