August 1983
volume 34, number 4
News about Piedmont. The Up-And-Coming Airline.
F-28 gives PI big fleet
To serve small markets
Piedmont Airlines has reached
agreement with the Fokker Aircraft
Corporation to purchase a fleet of
12 F 28 twinjet aircraft, and taken
options on eight more. The aircraft
will first go into service on Pied
mont routes in early Spring of
1984.
Although not new, the aircrcift
will be virtually remanufactured
by Fokker before delivery. Unlike
purchases of aircraft from other
airlines. Piedmont will receive
full support services from Fokker
comparable to the purchase of
new aircraft.
President Bill Howard said the
65-passenger twin-jets will enable
Piedmont to continue all jet ser
vice to smaller communities on
Piedmont’s system, and free six
B 737 112-passenger twinjets now
serving smaller markets for devel
opment of high density routes,
particularly at Piedmont's fast-
growing hubs in Charlotte, Dayton,
ajid, now, BWI.
"We are probably more deeply
involved with service to the smaller
communities than any other
major airline in America,” Howard
said. "The F-28 will enable us to
continue this commitment and
give us the flexibility to serve thin
continued page 4
l^esidenl Bill
Howard signs
agreement
for F 28s
with Slitari
Matthews,
president.
Fokkci ■ A i rcrajl
USA. Inc.
Her^son newest member of Piedmont Family
Piedmont received approval this
month from the Civil Aeronautics
Board to acquire Henson Aviation,
Inc., as a separate but wholly
owned subsidiary. Henson is the
fifth largest airline among U.S.
commuters or regionals.
Under terms of the agreement.
Piedmont will acquire the common
stock of Henson Aviation, Inc.,
based in Salisbury, Md., in a series
of five stock purchase transactions
over a four year period.
“Henson is nationally recognized
as one of America’s best managed
commuter airlines, with an out
standing record of good, reliable
service." said Bill Howard, Pied
mont president and chief executive
officer.
"Even more vital to Piedmont is
the fact that Henson is the largest
commuter operator at BWI and has
an impressive reputation all across
the Mid Atlantic region," he said.
Henson has over 50 flights a day
at BWI and, on October 30, sched
ules for the two airlines will be
coordinated for optimum
opportunities.
similarities
Piedmont and Henson have
much in common. Both sprang
from similar roots as general
aviation companies and, despite
growth, have remained loyal to
their home communities and
historic service patterns.
Since deregulation, Henson, like
Piedmont, has grown dramatically.
In 1978 the airline boarded
257.000 passengers. Last year
boardings increased to 650,000.
The airline now flies approximately
16.000 miles every business day,
the equivalent of five flights from
New York to London.
Henson’s beginnings
Richard A. (Dick) Henson,
founder and president of Henson
Aviation, Inc., has always been in
love with flying. After graduating
from high school, he set out with
$375, bought a 25 percent interest
in a bi plane, and hired an instruc
tor to teach him to fly. After about
six hours of instruction, he soloed.
In the early 1930s, Henson
became a test pilot for Fairchild
Industries, then a small firm making
a two-place, 25-horsepower air
plane. At the same time, he leased
Hagerstown Airport, a grass field
with no runways, and began oper
ating it with the help of a single
mechanic. That airport became
home base for Henson Aviation,
continued page 2
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