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Setting the Pace - The Piedmont Report (Page 2)

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The first Pacemaker steps down

Another massive change came in 1983, when Tom Davis, the founder of Piedmont stepped down as president and retired. His successor was Bill Howard, who leaded the airline into a new era.

Under Bill Howard, the airline started its first transcontinental flights from Charlotte to Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1984. And as a new service to the customers, a First Class was introduced on this flights.

In 1986 the management started to think about a possible linkup with another airline, they wanted to find a partner for their airline. Not because the airline was performing bad, in fact Piedmont Airlines was performing very good. But consolidation was going on fast and the big players became even bigger. Probably, the management was afraid that they won't have a future alone. For the first time, the management Piedmont talked with USAir about a possible business combination between the two airlines.

Also in the same year, Empire Airlines joined the Piedmont group. With the merger, 15 Fokker F28-4000, 10 destinations and 1000 new employees found their way into the Piedmont family. After the merger, Piedmont had 1177 daily departures to 87 airports in the USA, including Montreal and Ottawa in Canada. The fleet consisted of 129 aircrafts of the types Boeing 727, 737 and Fokker 28.

Furthermore, a new codeshare-partner was found. After the addition of New York's Kennedy airport to the route network, Piedmont teamed up with TWA in a marketing alliance to feed 20 TWA destinations in Europe and the Middle East.

Going transatlantic

The City of Charlotte and Piedmont Airlines filled a joint application for flights between Charlotte and London in Great Britain during July 1986. In the same month, the airline announced the order of 6 Boeing 767-200ER widebody aircraft for further route expansion in the transcontinental and transatlantic market. The first Boeing 767 joined the fleet at May 27, 1987 and was named "The Pride of Piedmont".

Another step to get one of the youngest fleets was taken in June 1986, when Piedmont announced that it is the launching customer for the Boeing 737-400, the newest model of the best-selling commercial jetliner. Piedmont placed an order for 25 planes with options for 30 more.

April 23, 1987 a day of big success for Piedmont Airlines. The US Department of Transportation granted its approval for the London flights. At the 15th June, flight 160 departed Charlotte for London's Gatwick Airport. The Boeing 767 carried 187 passengers. For the very first time, Piedmont flew over the Atlantic. After the successful start of the London route, the airline was also applying for flights to Paris. Other considered destinations in Europe were Zurich as well as Frankfurt.

An other, rather unusual addition to the fleet came with the purchase of a new Douglas DC-3 to be used for airshows and other special events. The DC-3 was the first type in the fleet of the airline back in 1948, the base for all the success. In July 1987, the Piedmont fleet (beside that historic DC-3) consisted of 2 Boeing 767, 62 Boeing 737-200, 28 Boeing 737-300, 34 Boeing 727-200, and 45 Fokker F28 (series -1000 and -4000).

Times of War

Piedmont Airlines was a great company. They were performing very well and enjoyed a very good reputation at their passengers. Furthermore, the airline built up an impressive route network, especially at the US east coast. With the ongoing consolidation in the airline sector, almost every airline was looking for possible take-over candidates. One of these airlines was USAir (now US Airways), who wanted to strengthen its size and market shares. One of their targets was Piedmont, which they wanted to merge into their group. Another one was the Californian PSA, which they acquired in 1988.

At February 5, 1987, Bill Howard received a first letter from the management at USAir with a takeover bid. USAir proposed to acquire Piedmont. Special meetings were held at Piedmont in the following days and weeks to figure out how to react. But USAir was not the only company interested in Piedmont. Norfolk and Western, who already owned a stake of 19.44% in Piedmont was also thinking about the future of its investment. Instead of being a passive investor, they wanted to become an active one. The takeover war was launched.

Both, Norfolk and USAir were making various revised takeover offers during the next weeks. They increased the prices which they wanted to pay the shareholders. They changed the conditions of the takeover. The board of Piedmont reviewed the proposed acquisitions and at February 17, 1987 the company announced to the public that it had received three takeover bids from the two different parties.

In March 1987, Carl Icahn, TWA's Chairman of the Board stepped into the scene and proposed a merger of TWA with USAir. However, TWA later decided to postpone its attempt to takeover USAir. A merger between Trans World Airlines and USAir was off the desk. USAir was in the game again.

USAir still wanted to buy 100% of Piedmont and merge it with its airline. So they made new offers to get the shareholder's approval for the takeover. The takeover war went on over months.

At the 23rd July 1987, the shareholders of Piedmont Aviation eventually approved the merger agreement between Piedmont and the USAir Group. The Department of Transportation approved the acquisition by USAir in October 1987. Even an appeal by America West Airlines couldn't stop the merger between the two airlines and at the 5th November 1987, Piedmont and its 23'000 employees became a wholly owned subsidiary of the USAir Group.

August 4, 1989. A sad day. After 41 years of operations, the last flight of Piedmont Airlines takes off from Dayton bound for South Bend (IN). With this flight, the story of one of the greatest airlines ends. At the next day, August 5, Piedmont Airlines begins scheduled operations as USAir. The Pacemaker was gone.

Michael Meier, 17. September 2002

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