INT employees cheer revenue accounting decision
Mechlin
Good news has quickly trans
lated into opportunity in Piedmont’s
revenue accounting department.
Earlier this year, USAir announced
that it would move its passenger re
funds and cargo accounting ser
vices to Winston-Salem in April,
occupying a large brick building
next to the revenue accounting
department at Madison Park.
About 35 USAir
and former PSA
employees asked
to transfer to
INT—but that
was just the be
ginning of a
larger commit
ment to the area.
An additional 75
employees at
grades two and
four are needed to staff the new
operation, and those employees will
come from Piedmont’s ranks in rev
enue accounting and other depart
ments in INT. This, in turn, will
create more openings in revenue
accounting as anyone who trans
fers into the USAir operation must
be replaced.
Forest Bates, assistant controller-
revenue accounting, and Stanley
Mechlin, director-
revenue account
ing, are helping
USAir conduct
interviews for the
75 and will over
see the influx of
new personnel
into their own
department.
“Generally
speaking, the
challenge is to get these systems
merged and have everyone pulling
together for the passenger’s bene
fit,” Bates said.
Such a benefit ought to be quick
in coming. Revenue accounting
consists of five major functions:
cargo accounting (auditing air
freight bills), refunds (such as
refunding money to people unable
to travel or who have lost their
tickets), interline (billing interline
receivables and payables), data
entry (inputting ticket price and
value information), and ticket audit
(auditing sales from travel agencies
and stations). Mechlin said that
putting Piedmont's systems to
gether with USAir's is a cooperative
venture that will pay dividends to
the company and to our passengers,
"We’re taking the best features of
both carriers and combining them
into a hybrid system to everyone's
benefit,” Mechlin said.
Bates
For example, USAir has automated
cargo accounting and refunds sys
tems that will be incorporated into
the combined operation. In addi
tion, the best features of Piedmont
and USAir will be merged for the
remaining systems.
■'Everyone’s pretty happy about
the whole thing,” Mechlin said.
TWo revenue auditors at Madison
Park include themselves among
those who see opportunity knock
ing. Sharon Shepherd and Karen
Hauser have each been with Pied
mont for almost eight years. They
were among the first to apply for
the 75 positions in USAir's cargo
accounting and passenger refunds
operations. Both wanted to get in
on the ground floor of the growing
USAir/Piedmont combination.
"I’m enthused about learning the
new procedures,” Shepherd said.
“The basics are the same, but
there are some differences and I’d
be able to learn something new.”
Hauser echoed those sentiments
and said there's a certain excite
ment about having a new operation
come to town.
"I’d like to see the department
get started and help get it accom
plished,” she said.
USAir representatives came to
Madison Park on February 25-26 to
interview for the new positions. By
mid-March, Piedmont had begun
interviewing for replacements. The
focus on INT employees as a re
source for those replacements is to
help alleviate some of the difficul
ties employees might have if faced
with an unwanted move or a move
they’re unable to make.
“So if there's a clerk working in
another department who's not able
to follow a job to, say, Pittsburgh or
Washington, then we hope to have
that clerk working over here,”
Mechlin said.
Currently, Piedmont has over 400
people in revenue accounting. After
Piedmont and USAir totally merge
operations, that number will be
700 to 800. Bates said that these
transfers are an example of the op
portunities that exist in fast-
growing companies like Piedmont
and USAir, and those opportunities
will accelerate even more as the
combined company grows.
“In revenue accounting, we grow
as our passenger traffic increases,”
Bates said. “When USAir and Pied
mont join forces, ticket volume will
do nothing but reach for the sky.
Our employees are grateful and
welcome the challenges brought on
by the merger.”
1
m
Cynthia Brown (left), supervisor in ticket audit, and Irma Tiiylor,
international auditor, go over ticket auditing procedures.
Glenda McCormick (standing),
manager-data entry, assists
data entry operators (front to
back) Elaine McBride, Janice
Hunter, and Tbnya Hart.
Tterry Tterrell performs account
ing functions in the credit card
section.
Cam Porter, international
auditor.
Personnel in the cargo ac
counting section responsible for
auditing air freight bills include
(1st row, 1 to r) Lisa Boyles,
Karen Starling, Delane Holden,
Lisa Mitchell, and Becky Good
man (manager); (2nd row) Bonnie
Nicholson, Jane Carroll, Cassie
Stiles, Gwen Ross, and Shirley
Dorton; and (3rd row) Dottie Cor
nelius, Sue 'Vbgler, and Melissa
Blair.
March 1988 • Piedmonitor