February 1984
volume 35, number 1
News about Piedmont. The Up-And-Coming Airline.
Piedmont gets up and away to LA
On April 1, Piedmont Jumps to
the biggest puddle of all — the
Pacific Ocean — and becomes a
transcontinental airline.
That’s the announcement Pied
mont made public on December 22.
On April 1. we’ll begin nonstop,
round trip service from both Char
lotte and Dayton to Los Angeles.
And by the end of the year, San
Francisco will also be on our map.
“Certainly West Coast service
has been in the imagination of
employees, especially since deregu
lation in 1978,” Dick James, staff
vice president-corporate planning,
said.
“We've been looking at California
for over four years. Los Angeles and
San Francisco are two of the most
populous areas in the country that
we don’t serve, and neither Dayton
nor Charlotte have nonstop service
to the West Coast."
Los Angeles is the second-largest
city in the nation, and the airport is
one of the top airports in the coun
try in terms of boardings.
"Because of the long-haul nature
of these markets, the yield will be
lower," James said. "However, the
aircraft we're leasing will have a
cost structure tailored to long-haul
service."
We will acquire five relatively new
advanced Boeing 727-200 long-
range aircraft to serve these routes.
The aircraft will seat 146 passen
gers, 12 of these in first class.
These aircraft, leased from PSA, are
being refurbished by Boeing and
will begin arriving in late March.
Both Charlotte and Dayton will
have departures during their early-
morning complexes. Flight 001,
which originates at GSO, will
depart CLT at 9 a.m„ arriving at
LAX at 11:12 a.m. (Pacific Standard
Time). The return llight, Flight 002,
will depart LAX at 12:35 p.m., arriv
ing in CLT at 7:39 p.m., and contin
uing to GSO, arriving at 8:50 p.m.
In the midwest. Flight 003, which
originates at GRR, will depart DAY
at 8:20 a.m., arriving in LAX at
10:10 a.m. Eastbound, Flight 004
will depart LAX at 2:20 p.m. and
arrive in DAY at 9:06 p.m. It con
GRT L A
VIS i CON BUB
tinues to GRR, arriving at 10:34
p.m.
"We’ll have two Piedmont jets on
the ground at Los Angeles each day
for an hour and 40 minutes," Bob
McAIphin, vice president-airline
scheduling, said.
"We need to also remember that
our California llights will be very
competitive with other airlines
from several points on our system,
so each of us needs to remember to
promote Piedmont’s service."
The decision to add first class
service affects all areas at Pied
mont, but none more than catering.
We'll olTer lull course service in
our I'irst-class section," I\"te Van
Duser, director food services, said.
■‘We’ll have a choice of entrees, a
wine selection, and other beverages.
Now we’re choosing the china,
glassware, Ilatware and linens we’ll
be using."
Meals for the coach section will
be identical to those served on our
present long-haul llights. The first-
class section will have ovens, and
the coach section will have three
gcUleys at the rear of the aircraft.
VanDuser has had help making
catering decisions from five llight
attendants, members of a special
task force, to plan for the West
condmu'd i>agc 3
In Just 10 months.
Piedmont'sfacilities
at Charlotte will doa
Me in size. We'll have
Jour more gates by
next December, and a
lot more room for our
passengers.
The sketch at right
illustrates the East
Concourse expansion.
In March, site prepa
ration will begin, and
construction on the
addition (shaded
area at right) will
start in August. The
three aircraft top left
represent other air
lines using the
concourse.
For details on our
expansion at CLT, our
largest hub, turn to
page 3.