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Industry notes
Makeup of industry may be changed by mergers
The directors of North Central Airlines and
Southern Airways have approved their earlier
announced agreement in principle for a merger.
The merger still is subject to approval by each
company’s stockholders and lenders and concur
rence of the Civil Aeronautics Board. North
Central serves 17 states and two Canadian
provinces. Southern serves 19 states and Grand
Cayman in the Caribbean. The common points
of the two carriers’ route systems include New
York, Atlanta, Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Mil
waukee, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Denver.
Texas International, which in mid-July com
pleted acquisition of a 9.2 per cent interest in
National Airlines, has filed with the Board for
approval to control the trunk airline. The Texas-
based local service carrier said it is placing its
current and future holdings in National in a
voting trust. TXI also plans to continue buying
shares of National, pending CAB approval, but
does not intend to acquire more than 25 per
cent of National’s outstanding shares without
the Board’s approval of its application for con
trol.
Continental and Western Airlines have an
nounced the completion of a seven-month
merger feasibility study and that their top
executives are negotiating terms for a possible
merger. If an agreement is reached and ap
proved, the new company would become the
nation’s seventh largest airline with routes
extending from Mexico to Hawaii and Alaska
and from Chicago to Tokyo.
Recently, security analysts have been citing
the long-term effects of deregulation as the
reason for renewed interest in airline consolida
tions.
Another merger possibility involves Pan
Am and an as-yet unnamed carrier. News re
ports have said sources at the CAB say that
Pan Am has let it be known in the industry
and at the Board that it (Pan Am) is seeking a
merger partner. So far, there have been no
takers.
Aloha Airlines, a Hawaiian-based local ser
vice carrier, was recently purchased by Inter
national Air Services, Inc. An anti-trust official
at the Department of Justice said that agency
viewed the Aloha purchase as a simple change
of ownership. lASCO is a West Coast U. S. air-,
craft servicing company with large contracts
with Japan Airlines.
Boeing starts on new jets
On the strength of United Airline’s large
order for 767s, the Boeing Company will launch
the program into full-scale development and
production.
United ordered 30 of the new 767 twinjets
valued at $1.2 billion. At the same time, United
announced orders for 30 727-200 trijets, mak
ing the package the largest single transaction
in commercial aviation history. The total value
of the order is more than $1.6 billion.
Deliveries of the new 197-passenger 767, a
twin-aisle airliner in the tradition established
by the 747, are scheduled to begin in mid-1982.
The planes will be powered by two Pratt & Whit
ney engines, JT9D-7R, each rated at 44,300
pounds maximum thrust.
The wide-body 767 will be the first entirely
new aircraft introduced by a U.S. maker since
the L-1011 and the DC-10 in 1968.
Boeing says it sees a world-wide market for
about 1,500 airliners in the Model 767 category
by 1990. Boeing President E. H. Boullioun fore
cast more 767s will be sold over the long term
than any other airliner series in the company’s
history. The 727, with orders for 1,554, cur
rently ranks as the best-selling transport in
world history.
The 767 will be assembled at Boeing’s
Everett, Washington facility. The first rollout
is expected in 1981.
Lowest of the low
From mid-June to mid-July, Pan American
"World Airways offered the lowest scheduled
transatlantic fare in history — $149 for a stand
by, roundtrip from Boston to Amsterdam. A
one-way ticket sold for $99. A total success with
bargain-seeking travelers, the flights operated
at virtually 100 percent load factors for the
special promotion.
The absolute lowest airfare ever appeared
in mid-June when Texas International offered a
special $1.00 fare to introduce its new service
between Kansas City and Dallas-Ft. Worth. The
dollar tickets were for standby passengers on
the airline’s four daily flights during the first
four days TXI served the new route. They re
ported no empty seats!
Texas may get Concorde
The CAB has given tentative approval for
Braniff International to fly the supersonic Con
corde between Washington and Dallas-Ft.
Worth, starting in October.
The Board’s action was in response to a
Braniff request to interchange with Air France
and British Airways flights that now terminate
at Washington’s Dulles International Airport.
Under the plan, Braniff would lease the Con
cordes from the British and French for the
Washington-Texas segment of each flight, with
Braniff crews doing the flying on the domestic
route. Total time for flights from Dallas-Ft.
Worth to London or Paris would be 7 hours,
including the stopover at Dufles.
Specially for sleepyheads
In August, Japan Air Lines introduced beds
for a limited number of first-class passengers
on transpacific routes. The same luxury will be
offered on JAL’s polar routes between Europe
and Japan starting in October.
The company said its Sky Sleeper Service is
not yet available on every international flight
Assistant V.-P. Bob Kadlec dies
Assistant Vice President-Route Development
Robert W. Kadlec died June 27, 1978 at the Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle,
i
Robert W.
Kadlec
assistant vice
president
route
development
Washington.
Kadlec had leukemia and had undergone a
bone marrow transplant from his brother
shortly before he died.
A native of Chicago, Kadlec joined Piedmont
as director of research. He was responsible for
the Company’s route development program. A
graduate of Northwestern University, Kadlec
also attended City College of New York. He
served in the Air Force and was with American
Airlines for seven years prior to joining Pied
mont in 1962. He was named assistant vice presi
dent in 1973.
Kadlec is survived by his wife, Elaine Roth
Kadlec; three sons, Robert, Jr., Charles and
Keith; his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Kadlec
of Florida; and a brother, Frank, Jr., also of
Florida.
To help defray expenses incurred by the
Kadlecs during his illness, a Bob Kadlec Fund
was started by co-workers and friends. It cur
rently totals about $1,600.
because the conversion of its 747 fleet won’t be
finished until March, 1979. Five beds are being
installed on each plane. There is an additional
charge for the service which also requires
special reservations.
Hat passed to pay for fuel
In late 1973 and early 1974, few airline
people would have been surprised to see an air
line captain taking up a collection to pay for
fuel. There were, in fact, cartoons suggesting
the possibility. But the fuel crisis passed and
we didn’t hear of it actually happening.
Recently, however, an airline captain on
a Paris-Lima flight had to literally pass the
hat among his passengers when airport authori
ties in the Azores refused to refuel his plane
on credit.
The incident took place in mid-July when a
Boeing 707 belonging to the Societe Antillaise
de Tourisme et de Transport was forced to re
fuel in Portugal’s Atlantic archipelago after en
countering strong head winds. The refueling
cost $4,000 but airport officials, who had not
heard of the charter company, insisted the cap
tain pay cash in dollars. Since the crew had only
Swiss francs, the captain raised the money
from passengers carrying dollars. The tourist
company repaid the passengers in Swiss francs.
In light of the current problems of the dol
lar in Europe, the passengers may have made
money.
We had industry’s best on-time record
According to the Aviation Daily’s on-time
performance report for the first quarter of this
year. Piedmont had the highest percentage of
on-time flights of any of the local service car
riers. There were 78.14 percent of our flights
on time. The second-place carrier, Hughes Air-
west, had 75.20 percent. North Central ranked
third with 69.18 percent of its flights on time
during January, February and March.
Airlines applaud anti-hijacking
The U. S. scheduled airlines have applauded
the anti-hijacking agreement reached by the
U.S. and six other nations at the recent economic
summit in Bonn, West Germany.
The agreement requires the seven nations
to suspend air service to any country that shel
ters or fails to extradite hijackers. In addition
to the U. S., it was signed by the United King
dom, France, Italy, Japan, Canada and West
Germany.
Position improves some
Piedmont’s position in the CAB’s consumer
complaint report improved slightly in May over
the sad showings in April and March. In May,
Piedmont ranked 8th in the industry (in April,
the Company was listed in 14th place). Among
the regional carriers, the Company moved up
from 7th in April to 5th in May.
Letters to the Board are categorized accord
ing to problems involving delays, reservations,
baggage, fares, refunds, cargo, customer treat
ment and charters. The majority of letters in
May were about fares.
Piedmont offers new service
Not only a new but a different kind of ser
vice is being offered by Piedmont these days.
Staff Vice President Robert F. Wigmore has
formed PACE. The acronym stands for Pied
mont Aviation Consulting Enterprises. PACE
provides air transportation and management
consulting services.
Wigmore says, “PACE will utilize the talents
of Piedmont personnel from many areas of
the Company’s operations. So far, we’ve com
pleted one project for a foreign carrier and are
currently involved with another. We are also
participating in a study for the State of North
Carolina.”
PACE is offering, initially, research analysis
in various fields of aviation, and feasibility
studies in a number of areas, for example, air
craft selection.