page two
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March/April, 1979
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pieomonr
N747N
N737N
while the mock-up of Boeing's new 767 aircraft is still being built at the Company's
Everett plant. Piedmont is already flying the first Boeing 767. The airplanes registered
N747N and N737N are also Piedmont Boeing twin jets. Neither Piedmont nor Boeing
can claim N757N. According to FAA records, that number is on a Schempp-Hirth,
registered to Ralph C. Luebke. A Schempp-Hirth is a German glider. Pictures at left and
right were taken by Rick Reed. Center photo from Boeing.
Industry notes
Boeing to build 757 twin jet
Boeing formally has decided to build its 757
twin jet, an airplane designed to replace many
of the three-engine 727s flying today. Since
Eastern has ordered 21 and British Airways
has ordered 19, there wasn’t much doubt that
Boeing would put the 757 into full production.
It will be a short-to-medium range jet seating
177. It is designed to provide airlines with a
frequency advantage offered by smaller air
craft while providing the fuel elTiciency of larger
planes. Boeing says the plane will have the best
fuel efficiency per passenger carried of any
airplane in its class. Deliveries are to start in
1983.
Airlines used less fuel
The U. S. airlines used about 50 million gal
lons less fuel in 1978 than in 1973, while carry
ing 78 million more passengers and more cargo,
according to the Air Transport Association. The
ATA reported an increase of 38 per cent in pas
sengers flown and passenger miles produced per
gallon of fuel since 1973. The report also said
that in 1978, the U. S. scheduled airlines ac
counted for nearly 85 per cent of public trans
portation passenger miles between U. S. cities
and for about 95 per cent of the travel between
this country and points overseas.
Sun setting at CAB
There is no firm timetable, but the Civil
Aeronautics Board already is planning a sub
stantial reduction in staff. Under sunset provi
sions of the Airline Deregulation Act, the board
ultimately will cease to exist and, prior to its
demise, must figure out what to do with 830
employees. CAB Chairman Marvin S. Cohen
believes staff reduction can be accomplished
through retirement, attrition, and “an effective
employee redeployment program.” The dis
appearance of the board will be a slow process.
It will lose domestic route authority on Decem
ber 31, 1981. Authority over domestic fares
and antitrust matters will expire on January 1,
1983. It will go completely out of business on
January 1, 1985.
New name planned
Saying it is no longer a regional carrier, Al
legheny Airlines announced it will ask its share
holders to change the company name to USAir.
An Allegheny spokesman said the name was
chosen after many nominations were evaluated
by consumer panels in several cities and by
surveys of air travelers in six major marketing
areas. Shareholders will vote on the name
change at the airline’s 1979 annual shareholders
meeting May 10.
Do planes cause bad weather?
Has the increase in jet plane traffic been
partially responsible for the wretched winters
of the past several years? A grant from the
National Science Foundation will enable Uni
versity of Illinois researchers to study sunshine
and cloud-cover patterns over nine midwestern
states. They will attempt to determine whether
jet exhausts emit enough moisture to form the
large accumulations of ice crystals, snow and
rain that have poured down on the midwest in
recent years. The jet-plane theory has been
mentioned frequently in Chicago, which has
suffered record snow storms for the past two
winters.
Board says service increasing
A recently-released Civil Aeronautics Board
study shows service, as measured by weekly
departures at all points served by commercial
airlines, increased 8.4 per cent between Febru
ary of 1978 and February of this year.
Comparing February 1978 to February 1979
service, measured by weekly aircraft departures
at each point, scheduled service was 8.4 per cent
for the nation with increases experienced in
all regions of the country and in communities
of all sizes.
Service levels at the nation’s smaller air
ports are of particular concern to the CAB be
cause of fears expressed by critics of reform
legislation that deregulation would jeopardize
air service to small communities. The report
shows that between February 1978 and Febru
ary 1979, service at non-hub airports, such as
Florence, S. C., measured by total weekly sched
uled aircraft departures, actually increased by
5.2 per cent.
Listen for call of the wild
Travelers flying across the Atlantic may
soon hear a jungle call from below their feet.
Their flight companions could be elephants
heading for a circus. Or horses, cattle, or a
vast array of other air cargo from heavy ma
chinery to oysters. The novel idea from Sea
board World Airlines is to mix air travelers and
freight — although in separate cabins.
The 16 passengers on each flight will travel
in the upper deck of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.
The cargo will be in the body of the huge jet.
Seaboard’s senior vice president of sales,
John H. Mahoney, says the company will be
gin the service between New York and Frank
furt June 1, this year. It will be the first time
cargo and passengers have shared a plane, he
said.
Judges issue findings
A Civil Aeronautics Board administrative
law judge found that the application by Texas
International Airlines to acquire control of
National Air Lines and the application of Pan
American World Airways to acquire control of
and merge with National should be denied be
cause the transactions violate antitrust laws
and are inconsistent with the public interest.
Another CAB judge has recommended that
the Board approve the merger of Continental
Air Lines and Western Air Lines, subject to a
condition requiring the merging airlines to fol
low through on their promise to reduce air fares.
p/^crmanfrcn?
Piedmont Aviation, Inc.
Betsy Allen, Editor
Smith Reynolds Airport
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
fllRUne EDITOR/ J
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