Wichita scores
1st PI 'boarding'
Wichita. Kansas, wants
Piedmont in a big way.
That's why a large bill
board reading "Wichita”
appeared recently on
Liberty Street in Winston-
Salem. just a short dis
tance from our corporate
headquarters.
"We just thought it
would be a way of keeping
our name in front of Pied
mont as they go through
some decision processes
over the next few months,”
Larry Danielson, vice presi
dent of economic develop
ment for the Wichita Area
Chamber of Commerce,
told a reporter for the
Winston-Salem Journal.
"It’s no secret to Pied
mont that we in Wichita
are very actively seeking
additional air service, and
we know Piedmont Airlines
is a growing and healthy
airline. And we would like
to see them have a pres
ence in our city," Danielson
said.
Wichita has been wooing
us for more than a year.
Senator Robert Dole, R-
ftonsas, has popped in
twice to see Bill Howard,
our president and chief
executive officer, and
Senator Nancy L. Kasse-
baum, R-Kansas, has also
made a pitch to Howard
for Piedmont to serve the
city.
Will the pressure work?
Wichita will just liavc to
wail and see. But you can
bet with tactics like these,
this city will get a lot of
consideration as wc jjlan
our future growth.
volume 37, number 3
April 1986
New careers open as PI-UR meld
When Piedmont announced the
acquisition of Empire Airlines last
October, Bill Howard, Piedmont
president and chief executive offi
cer, made it clear that each Empire
employee would be offered a job
within the merged organization.
For some Empire employees, that
will mean a substantial change in
their job functions, and, in some
cases, the prospect of a move to a
new location. For others, job
responsibilities will remain much
the same. But whether employees
stay in their present position or
move into new careers, they are
quickly adapting to a new way of
corporate life.
Here's a look at six of Piedmont’s
newest employees, and the changes
in their careers.
Reinhard Bohling, a lead me
chanic, has worked at Empire's
Utica maintenance facility for
nearly five years, and he will con
tinue in this position after the
acquisition is complete May L
Bohling, a native of the Saranac
Lake/Lake Placid region in north
eastern New York, presently lives in
the Utica area with his wife and
daughter. He represents the vast
majority of the Empire Mainte
nance Department who find the
merger means for them improved
work schedules, higher compensa
tion, and a greater long-term career
opportunity.
Reinhard Bohling,
lead mechanic, UCA
"I’m looking forward to the
changeover,” Bohling said. "We’ll
have the ability to expand into dif
ferent aircraft."
Diane Blank, a "native New
Yorker," has worked for Empire as a
passenger service representative at
LGA since October of 1980. Blank
said that she has enjoyed working
with her group, and, "I hope the
Empire family will grow within the
Piedmont organization."
Since Empire and Piedmont
operations have been combined at
LGA, the Empire ground agents are
now involved with 55 daily arrivals
and departures as opposed to eight.
"We are working harder and we
are busier throughout the day with
the greater number of flights,”
Blank said. "Because of the short
age of space at LX}A. the Piedmont/
Empire operation is handled
through gates at separate con
courses. This is something which
will be corrected soon, but it makes
working at LGA more challenging."
She added: "Piedmont offers an
muirc- t
KiOJf'P
opportunity to vary the routine and
to learn additional and more spe
cialized jobs.”
F28 Captain Richard lYcpiak.
who started with Empire in the
right seat of a Navajo in 1978, has
moved (hrough the ranks of
Empire’s Heel of Metro lls and now
flies in the left seal of the F28. How
does he feel about (he merger'?
"I'm excited about i(. ’ IVcpiak
said.
He is looking forward lo flying
larger aircraft, belter schedules,
higher compensation, and im
proved job security with a major
carrier. Although "lYepiak will con
tinue living in Rome and work ou(
of the UCA-SYR base lor now, his
smile widened as he spoke of (he
possibility of relocating lo a South
ern base, perhaps flve lo six years
down the road.
"I certainly would like upgrading
to a Boeing, nol lo mention being
nearer to all those great golf
courses,” he said.
lYepiak also commented on the
way Empire employees have han
dled the transition period saying,
"I'm proud lo be working among
]jrofessionals who make this transi
tion period so smooth and
elficient."
Bonnie Adey. a general sales
agent al Empire's Reservations
Center in UCA for the past three
years, feels lhal reservations has
had the easiest transition of all the
departments.
Adey, a native of Rome, NY, who
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