Piedmont launch customer for Boeing 737-400
Boeing's 737, the main
stay of our fleet since 1968.
has been chosen as the air
craft that will carry us into
the future.
Bill Howard, our presi
dent and chief executive
officer, announced at a
press conference June 4
that Piedmont has pro
vided Boeing with the first
production order for a new
generation of Boeing 737
aircraft —the 737-400. The
156-seat twinjet will be the
most modern passenger
plane in the world when it
rolls off the production line
in 1988.
The order is the sixth-
largest in Boeing’s
commercial-aircraft sales
history.
Howard, along with
Frank A. Shrontz. presi
dent and chief executive
officer of The Boeing Com
pany of Seattle, announced
the launch order for 25 of
the new aircraft at a press
conference at the Marriott
Hotel at the Greensboro/
High Point/Winston-Salem
Regional Airport.
Delivery of the 25 737-
400s to Piedmont is sched
uled to begin in September
1988 and be completed by
December 1989. Piedmont
also placed options to buy
30 additional 737-400s, to
be delivered in 1990 and
1991 if those options are
exercised.
Boeing placed the total
value of the 55 aircraft at
about $1.9 billion, includ
ing spare parts.
••The 737-400 will be
comfortable and physically
attractive to our passen-
gers,^' Howard said. • Its
%!■
T-.
i 1
PiEomanr
highly efficient engines
will also require less fuel
than the earlier 737-200
model, so it will be profit
able to operate on a variety
of stage lengths. This, in
combination with its larger
size, will help hold down
the cost of air transporta
tion, which continues to be
one of Americans best con
sumer values."
The 737-400 will come
in two cabin configura
tions: 156-seal in all
coach. and 146-seat in
coiiliniK'd page 5
r
^ n p r n -H n n n n
p p r> n n n r* p ,n p n n n n n n n 0 n r n o n n,
volume 37, number 5
June 1986
CInarlotte gets $27 million in improvements, growth
We’re growing again in Charlotte!
For the second time since the
new terminal opened at Charlotte/
Douglas International Airport in
1982, we’re expanding our con
course to better handle operations
at our largest hub.
The announcement was made by
Bill Howard, president and chief
executive officer, and Charlotte
Mayor Harvey Gantt, at a news con
ference held at the airport on June
9. The $27 million project,
designed to enhance our passenger
facilities and relieve peak period
congestion in the aircraft ramp
area, is expected to be completed
by late summer of 1987.
The new concourse section will
also give Piedmont seven new gates
with loading bridges, as well as 12
gates for our commuter aircraft. In
addition, we will gain two more
gates on Concourse C by the end of
the year when Delta and United
move to Concourse A, now under
construction. By next summer.
Concourse C will be all Piedmont
with 27 gates.
"Charlotte has grown rapidly as
a hub airport." Howard said. "Pub
lic response to the services Pied
mont has provided here has been
so strong that just nine other air
line hub operations at airports
across the United States handle
more passengers than Piedmont. It
has been clear to Piedmont and to
the Charlotte city officials that the
more than 400.000 passengers
handled by Piedmont monthly at
Douglas Airport need more ameni
ties and facilities. This $27 million
program will address precisely
those needs."
The City of Charlotte will fund
the project through revenue bonds.
Improvements will include:
(iifili'fiiinitiWiiiiM
-v..
m
• Ramp space around the Pied
mont concourse and taxiways in
the area will be increased by 35 to
40 percent. We will also construct
our own control tower to manage
our aircraft. Piedmont Commuter
nights and our ground equif)men(
in the terminal area. The 85-foot
tower will be located in the center
of our concourse and will be oper
ated by Piedmont people.
• Our holdrooms will be more spa
cious. The program will add 12,000
continued page 9
Charlotte Mayor Harvey Gantt
(left) and Bill Howard, Piedmont
president and chief executive
officer, announced at a joint press
conference June 9 that the
Charlotte/Douglas International
Airport will undergo a $27 mil
lion expansion.
The Federal Aviation Adminis
tration predicts that Charlotte
will jump to the nation’s eighth or
ninth busiest airport by 1996, up
from 23rd in 1984. We now gener
ate about 72 percent of the air
port’s passenger loads.