May/June, 1978
Vol. XXIX, No. 2
$15 million mod program is underway
An inveterate shopper’s dream ... a market
list including a variety of items from coffee
pots and carpet to seats and upholstery ma
terial, with a check for millions of dollars at
tached.
The reality of such a shopping list is exciting.
But getting the job done has been more gruel
ing than glamorous at times.
Many decision makers, shoppers and imple-
menters have been involved in the program to
refurbish Piedmont’s jet fleet.
Installation has started
The installation of the new seats, new col
ors, new carry-all compartments and modified
engines will start this summer.
The program actually began back in the
spring of 1977. Vice President-Marketing Bill
McGee started working on the what or most
visible changes to be made. Vice President-Main-
tenance and Engineering Howard Cartwright
and his engineering people are taking care of
the how-—from start to finish .The where-it-
will-come-from details are the responsibility of
Vice President-Purchasing Bill Barber and his
staff. Other departments have also contributed
ideas and support to the project.
Re-doing the interiors of 20 airplanes is,
naturally, not a simple task; however, Boeing’s
737 retrofit kits do make it somewhat less for
Traffic is up almost' as
much as temperatures
In weather-like fashion. Piedmont’s passen
ger boardings have moved from winter lows
to nearly summer highs, skipping gradual
spring growth.
May set a record for the fifth month of
the year and had the third highest enplane-
ments for any month in the Company’s history.
During May, 1978, 395,885 passengers flew the
routes of the Pacemakers. The all-time record
month was July, 1977 when 899,887 passengers
were boarded.
For the January through May period this
year revenue passenger miles are up 10 per
cent to 521,070,398. The number of passengers
boarded is up 7.6 per cent to 1,695,740. Avail
able seat miles have increased 6.4 per cent to
1,019,458,747. The load factor, which was 56.3
per cent for the month of May, is 51 per cent
for the year to date through May.
midable. Called the “superjet look,” the new
interior is now standard on all current produc
tion 737s. So Piedmont’s three new 737s, com
ing late this year and early in 1979, will be de
livered with the new look. When the modifica
tion program is complete, all the jets will have
the same interior.
Superjet look is super
The new interior styling technique takes
the tube look out of standard fuselage airplanes
and replaces it with a wide-body appearance.
It gives the plane’s interior greater spacious
ness without altering the basic fuselage cross-
section. This is accomplished by enclosing over
head stowage compartments, flush-mounting
passenger service units, providing sculptured
contours for ceiling and window panels and low
ering the ceiling slightly to give an appearance
of a wider cabin.
The new overhead carry-all compartments
are sized to accommodate the majority of al
lowable carry-on items, including suitcases and
standard garment bags, which can be laid flat
in the bottom of the compartments.
The compartments, which incorporate the
passenger service units’ lighting, air outlets
and call buttons, are 60 inches long. One carry
all compartment encloses more than 9 cubic feet
of space.
More seats offer greater comfort
The new seats, which were specially de
signed to Piedmont’s specifications by Fairchild-
Burns, have several unique features. They have
longer arm rests with ashtrays in each, instead
of just the usual two. There is a wrap-around
luggage retainer bar under each seat which
gives passengers more space for carry-on items.
The seating capacity is increased from the cur
rent 94, three and two, to 107 with the three
seats abreast on both sides of the aisle. The
center seat in each unit of three is a table un
til extra capacity is needed, when it folds back
to become a seat. The seat pitch, that much-
discussed standard of comfort, will average
35 inches in the new interiors, which is more
ample space than is provided in the current
configuration.
(Continued on page two)
Miami service starts June 15;
other new routes granted by CAB
Piedmont will officially put Miami on the
route map June 15. The first scheduled Pace
maker flight into the Company’s newest sta
tion will land at 11:27 a.m. Flight 1 will de
part Baltimore at 7:43 a.m. and stop in Greens
boro and Charleston, South Carolina en route.
Piedmont personnel will handle the Com
pany’s ticket counter and customer service func
tions in Miami. (Miami-related personnel chan
ges are outlined on page ten.) Delta will be
handling the ground operations and stand-by
maintenance for the planes there.
Effective with the Miami inaugural. Pied
mont will resume handling its own operations
at Charleston. Ticket counter and operations
space will be shared with Southern. Except for
loading and unloading flights, which Southern
will do, Piedmont people will handle all other
services at CHS.
Piedmont personnel will also resume the
responsibility for the Company’s entire opera
tion at Baltimore on June 15.
In mid-June, Southern will begin handling
all of Piedmont’s operations at Dulles.
Since the Miami award, there have been
several other routes granted by and requested
of the CAB.
The actions by the Board include the fol
lowing: The CAB granted its final approval
of Piedmont’s request for non-stop authority
between Newport News and New York/Newark
(June 6) ; the Board’s administrative law judge
awarded Piedmont non-stop authority in the
Atlanta-Norfolk market (May 5) ; CAB an
nounced it would award Piedmont non-stop au
thority in the Louisville-Washington market
and one-stop authority in seven Chicago mar
kets including Atlanta, Charlotte, Greensboro,)
Raleigh/Durham, Baltimore, Washington and
New York (June 1).
In the Atlanta-Norfolk case, Piedmont was
the only carrier given the authority to com
pete with the incumbent United between At
lanta and Norfolk. However, the law judge
awarded back-up rights to Allegheny and East
ern should Piedmont not operate non-stop serv
ice.
On April 28, Piedmont asked the CAB to
approve two new discount fare programs.
The first is the Round Thrift HI fare. It
offers a 30 per cent discount on all round-trip
Piedmont flights. There are no pre-ticketing,
reservation or maximum stay requirements.
Round Thrift III will be applicable for a
limited number of seats on each flight every
day, holidays included.
The return portion of a Round Thrift III
(Continued on page four)
Stockholders elect new director,- directors declare dividend
Calder W.
Womble
director
The directors of Piedmont Aviation, Inc.
declared a cash dividend of six cents (6^) per
share on the Company’s common stock at their
quarterly meeting on April 19.
Payable June 2, 1978 to stockholders of rec
ord on May 16, 1978, this was the 17th cash
dividend paid by the Company. It was the sec
ond quarterly dividend declared in 1978.
The directors also elected Alex H. Gallo
way a director emeritus. Galloway retired this
year after serving eight years on Piedmont’s
Board of Directors. The Board reelected all the
present officers of the Company.
Immediately preceding the directors’ meet
ing, the annual stockholders’ meeting was held
at the home office. A complete transcript of
that meeting is on pages five through eight.
The stockholders elected a new director to
the Company’s Board. He is Calder W. Womble,
partner in the Winston-Salem law firm of
Womble, Carlyle, Sandridge & Rice. A graduate
of Duke University, Womble is also on the
board of directors of Hanes Dye and Finishing,
Chatham Manufacturing Company and Greens
boro College.
A native of Winston-Salem, Womble served
in the Navy Air Corps during World War II.
He was assistant attorney general for the State
of North Carolina prior to joining Womble, Car
lyle as an associate in 1948. Womble became a
partner in the firm in 1953.
He is married to the former Martha Hanes
of Winston-Salem. The Wombles have four
children.