up for discussion
Have a question about Piedmont? A new column, “up for discussion,” gives you
an opportunity to ask questions about your comptmy.
All questions must be signed and include your name, title, and location. Your
name will be withheld from publication and will not be revealed when your ques
tion is sent to the proper department for an answer. Unsigned questions will be
automatically discarded.
When related questions are received, they will be consolidated and answered as
one question. As many questions and answers as space edlows will appear each
month in “up for discussion.”
Send your questions to Piedmonitor Editor, H440, or One Piedmont Plaza,
Winston-Salem, NC 27156-1000.
Q.
Why were only jumpsuits offered as
ramp uniforms without the option of shirt
and pants combinations? The jumpsuits
look good, but are very uncomfortable,
especially in warm weather.
A, As a result of the survey adminis
tered by Fashionaire March 22, 1985,
more than 50 percent of those employees
responding indicated a preference for the
one-piece Jumpsuit over the pants/shirt
combination. In an effort to abide by
"majority preference," a decision was
made to go this route.
Numerous requests have recently been
received indicating an interest in pants/
shirts and baseball caps. A final decision
has not been made regarding the pants/
shirts: however, Fashionaire has been
given the "go-ahead" for baseball caps.
As soon as they are available for order
ing, all station personnel will be notified.
Bob Reed
staff vice president-stations
Q. What will be the nonrevenue
privileges for Piedmont employees on
Piedmont’s Charlotte-London route?
A
As this issue of the Piedmonitor went
to press, the policy for non revenue travel
privileges on our new London route had
not been finalized. We do expect to have
a final policy very soon and will notify
all employees as soon as we do.
Faye McIntyre
manager-pass bureau
Q,
How might one go about finding A
and AA volleyball players with Piedmont
travel benefits? We were thinking of start
ing a traveling club team—to have
matches with business companies such as
TRW in LA or Burger King in Miami.
A.
Is anyone out there an A or AA vol
leyball player who would be interested in
Joining a team? Contact Ken Tbrres, cus
tomer service agent, LAXTR.
In 1st year. Self Express has
'exceeded our expectations'
“You mean I don't have to wait in that line
for the next available agent? That will save
me so much time,” a frequent flyer at EWR
recently remarked with a sigh of relief
Computerized automatic ticketing ma
chines are just one of many steps that Pied
mont has taken to provide a better product
and additional service for its customers in
the last year.
Piedmont Self Express is the name that we
have given to our machines which are lo
cated in ORF, JAX, MIA, CLT (at the CTO),
and EWR. Self Express machines give pas
sengers who have already made their reser
vations the opporunity to purchase tickets
and/or receive boarding passes by simply
using any major credit card.
A typical profile of a passenger using Self
Express is one who has no luggage or checks
it at curbside, is paying for his/her ticket
with a credit card, is a frequent flyer or busi
ness traveler, and only needs a ticket and/or
boarding pass.
“Just about a year ago Piedmont installed
its first Self Express ticketing machine at
Norfolk. The concept is still in the testing
stages and enhancements are being made
continually,” Don Witte, director-marketing
services and leader of the special task force
assigned to implement the program, said.
The task force, comprised of Cathy Ral
ston, marketing services-analyst, Ed Wright,
manager-applications, Brian Groe, team
leader-communications and computer serv
ices, Kurt Navratil, programmer/analyst, Carl
Crumley, director-passenger procedures, and
Pat McKee, passenger procedures-analyst,
asked senior management recently if they
should continue to experiment with the Self
Express concept, and their response was a
unanimous "Yes.”
Witte said the public reaction to Piedmont’s
self ticketing machines has “exceeded our
expectations.” It’s very much like using an
automated teller machine that most banks
offer their customers today, he added. The pas
senger simply inserts a credit card, and re
sponds to questions by pushing a button.
The machine then generates a ticket and/or
boarding pass.
“Our passengers are delighted to bypass
the long lines and they look at this as more
of the superior customer service that they
have come to expect from Piedmont Airlines.”
The key to the program’s success has been
the personnel at the participating stations.
“The major reason the concept has worked
so well is the employees,” Witte said. A sta
tus report was presented in December to per
sonnel at the participating stations soliciting
their input and recommendations for changes.
For example, agents pointed out that the
machine could not seat two people together.
We made a programming change in the soft
ware, and now people can be assigned adja
cent seats, even if they are not listed in the
same passenger name record and have differ
ent last names.
“This is just one of many changes we in
corporated as quickly as possible because
their input is very valuable. After all, they are
the ones actually dealing with our customers
on a daily basis,” Witte explained.
Possible future enhancements include
adding an express handling feature that
would shorten the ticketing time, and de
veloping a more specialized Self Express
machine that would focus on The Piedmont
Shuttle.
What's the future of Piedmont Self Express?
“We’ve spent a lot of time and money to as
sure that Piedmont is up-to-date with the
technology. We'll continue to investigate new
technology, provide recurrent training as
needed, and develop our software,” Witte said.
“Piedmont is on the leading edge of the
wave if these machines become a big part of
the future of the industry.”
orouna
Piedmont
Our fleet, as of March 15, includes 164 aircraft. We now
have 62 737-200s, 23 737-300s, 25 F28-4000s, 20 F28-
1000s, and 34 727-200s. One 737-300 is scheduled for
delivery in April, two in May, and two in June.
* * *
Piedmont stock (PIE on the New York Stock Exchange)
soared to a record high (closing) of 70-1/8 on February
20, and closed February 27, (he last trading day of the
month, at 69-7/8. Our stock closed on February 28,
1986, at 39-7/8.
* * *
Jim Swartz, director-ground safely, has been elected to
the Air Ti'ansport Association's Industrial Safety and
Health Panel for the 1987-88 term.
*
Helen Hull, Bill Lee, and Rilla Williard were re-clectcd
to the board of directors of the Piedmont Aviation Credit
Union at the annual meeting in February. Hull is aircraft
records coordinator; IvCC. director-chartcr and conven
tion sales; and Williard, executive secretary, GAG.
The Credit Union is implementing several new serv
ices this year. An audio response system. PACUTEL. will
soon offer members the convenience of banking by tele
phone 24 hours a day. seven days a week. The Credit
Union has also joined four automatic teller machine net
works which will enable members to withdraw from their
accounts from anywhere in the nation. A full-service
branch office is planned at CLT, and the present office
facility in the employee services building on North Lib
erty Street in Winston-Salem is being expanded. Loan
limits have been revised and expanded, and interest rates
reduced.
More than 15,600 employees and members of their
immediate families belong to the Credit Union which, at
year end, had assets totaling $42.2 million and reserves
in excess of $4.4 million. Membership is open to all
employees of Piedmont, including those in our subsidi
aries, and their spouses and dependent children.
« « *
On April 15, the Piedmont Commuter System will
grow.
Brockway will begin service to Niagara Falls (lAG) with
three flights daily, one nonstop and two one-stops to SYR.
In addition, Brockway will link While Plains (HPN) and
SYR with three flights daily.
CCAir will begin service to Ihree new destinations on
the April schedule. The commuter will offer three flights
daily from CLT to ILM, and one flight daily to both HTS
and TYS. The new services will give CCAir 68 daily
departures at CLT.
The Piedmont Shuttle Link, operated in Florida by
Henson, The Piedmont Regional Airline, will expand in
April. At JAX. two additional flights will be added to
MCO, increasing the total number of departures to 12.
GNV will gain a second flight to MCO. and MLB will gain
two more flights to MCO. With the additional service,
MCO will have 14 daily departures.
* * *
Henson set new records in all categories in February.
The number of passengers grew by 36.4 percent, avail
able seat miles (ASMs) were up 42 perceni. revenue pas
senger miles (RPMs) rose 42.2 percent, and the load
factor increased 4.95 points.
The three commuters which make up the Piedmont
Commuter System also experienced record growth in
February. Boardings at Jetstream rose 530.5 percent;
RPMs, 273.7 percent; ASMs, 132.9 percent; and the load
factor increased 19.84 points. CCAir's boardings rose
97.7 percent; RPMs, 113.0 percent; and ASMs, 131.5 per
cent. The load factor was 41.30 percent compared to
44.87 percent in February 1986. Brockway's passengers
increased 64.5 percent; RPMs, 55.9 percent; ASMs, 21.4
percent; and the load factor rose 11.64 points.
* « *
Piedmont's going to the symphony this spring. We're
the official airline of both the Greensboro Symphony
Orchestra and the South Carolina Philharmonic.
“Soaring to New Heights” is the theme of the Greens
boro Symphony. Piedmont will provide tickets for draw
ings, highlighting destinations such as Montreal, as well
as participate in other promotions.
For the South Carolina group. Piedmont will give a $50
discount coupon to each person contributing $100 or
more to the Philharmonic. The coupon will be good on
any Piedmont flight of $250 or more. The first concert,
scheduled for November 7 in Columbia, will be dedicated
to Piedmont. In addition, we will promote the organiza
tion through advertising and promotions.
March 1987 • Piedmonitor