Potomac Pacemaker Going To Spencer

[BoeingBoy]

Museum sends Potomac Pacemaker to Spencer


BY MARK SCHULTZ : The Herald-Sun
mschultz@heraldsun.com
Feb 9, 2004 : 10:54 pm ET

DURHAM -- The Potomac Pacemaker, the DC-3 airplane that has stood outside the Museum of Life and Science for a quarter century, is about to go the way of -- well, the dinosaur.

Article

Jim

 

[Art at ISP]

Are there not one or more flying DC-3's of Piedmont vintage at the air museum in CLT?

I recall seeing them regularly.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Art,

Yes, there is one.

Jim

 

[Art at ISP]

Jim,

Thanks for the answer--I didn't think I was imagining it--do you know if and when it flies??? I'd love to hitch a ride some time.

I have flown on the TWA Connie from the Airline History Museum--that was great--have plenty of pictures and video of that trip--MKC-JFK.

Good luck to you....

 

[BoeingBoy]

Art,

Maybe someone that lives in CLT can post a contact number for the Museum that currently owns it - it's called something like Carolina Aviation Museum. I notice that it's not always parked in front of their hanger in CLT so assume that it goes to at least some airshows or something.

After Piedmont acquired and refurbished the DC-3, a volunteer crew of employees (retired & working) routinely took it to airshows and I know that rides were sometimes available. After the merger in '89, it was transferred (sold, given?) to the museum in CLT.

Jim

 

[PI-RDU-SS]

Dear ALL:

You can get more information on the DC-3 in CLT on this website under lines of the past. It has great information from AOG-INT as usual. I also enjoy Art at ISP comments. Both are level headed and resonable.

Their is another PI DC N56 that has been on static display for many years in Durham NC. It was outside and was getting in bad shape. They are going to be moving it in Feb. to the NC Transportation museum in Spencer NC (near CLT) I have heard they will either have it on the floor or even suspend it from the roof if possible.

I had the pleassure of working for the Piedmont Sales and Marketing Dept and was able to fly this proud bird that is in CLT now. I flew it from Pope Airforce base (FAY) to Norfolk (ORF) once. Since both my parents worked at PI I was able to have flown in every type of plane PI ever flew. DC-3 through the Pride of Piedmont 767.

What an honor to work for such a great company and Mr. Davis. I will always wish PI could come back but sadly I do not think it ever will. Just remember what a great company and team spirit we had. Take what we learned from this unbelivable experience and move on with your life and take it to another company. There is life after PI. People who did not have this wonderful experience of working for PI will never understand or believe that you can respect or be respected by MGT. PI never paid the best but in the end it always had the rankings of being the best.

If you want more information on the DC-3 and Piedmont look at the website www.jetpiedmont.com and look under forums and also read comments from people who worked or flew PI.

This website should be mandatory reading for anyone who running an airline. Just spend time reading about the love rank and file had for Mr.Davis.

I went back and got an MBA and I can say I would throw 95% of what I learned out the window. Those numbers in $ signs are from people and employees. They are not ecomomic units like some former VP's of USAir in late 80's called the customers. We used to laugh and say "USAir begins with U and so does Unit."

They need to go back to simple things that Mr. Davis did that made PI such a loved airline with a great corporate culture. " We are in the Customer Service industry we just happen to fly planes." "I would rather make 5 cents 5 times then a quick .25 cents off a customer because he knows you took advantage of them and will not fly you the next time, that way the customer becomes a paying PI family member. Yes, he called them a paying PI family member and not an economic unit.

The industry has changed so much but what he did for his employees and customer can withstand any change this industry will ever go through. He would say take care of employees and they will take care of the "paying PI family members," and you will make a profit.

Mr Davis was a wonderful Christian man and even has a Divinty School Building named for him by his family at Wake Forest University. You will never see a CEO again like that in your life time.

What an experience to have been part of Piedmont. When I wear a sweat shirt I had made with PI logo on it and wear it around Raleigh I still have everyone stop and tell me how much they loved Piedmont and miss it to fly on or work for. That logo has been gone since 1989 and still has a better reputation with customers then US will or ever has.

My prayers go out to all the PI family member still trying there best at US.

It is a shame they ran off so many great people from the PI Sales and Marketing Dept.

 

[diogenes]

PI RDU SS,

You got all that right!

 

[wings396]

AH Yes, A marketing department...I remember when we had one. Those were the days when the company would fight to defend their turf instead of packing up and leaving town........What could have been........

 

[AOG-N-IT]

The Flying Ex-Piedmont DC-3 (N44V) was purchased from USair by donations to the Carolina's Historical Aircraft Commision (CHAC) Museum a few years back. The restoration was done by USAir Maint in INT in 1986.

Myself and my family helped with this purchase any way we could...and we continue to support this on an annual basis. We have all had a chance to fly in it as well.

I suggest to anyone visiting the CLT area , that they take the time to visit the Museum. The latest project is moving an old barracks from the airport property (Formerly known as Morris Field) to the museum grounds and restoring it for additional exhibits. This building is being named in honor of a native of the Mocksville N.C. area named Colonel Thomas Ferebee (USAF retired) Mr. Ferbee was the bombardier on the B-29 Bomber (Enola Gay) on August 6th 1945 , that dropped the first Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima Japan.

A walkway of brick is being contructed to the "Ferebee Building"..and donations can allow "Your Name" to be engraved into a brick denoting your support of the museum.

BTW....Thanks for the story link Jim !! I think the Potomac Pacemaker is in need or far greater care and preservation than the Durham museum is able or willing to provide it. I think the N.C. Transportation Museum is an ideal place for a non-flying exhibit to be. I believe it will draw more appreciation at the Spencer Shops location too.


Art...I have a story in the cargo airlines section of this website regarding Saber Cargo Airlines of CLT. They have two remaining DC-3's / C-47's that look close to a PI scheme at a distance..but are not in fact Ex-PI Aircraft.

This company went into chapter 7 almost a year ago...and flying has not resumed since a local aircraft broker aquired the assets for $600,000 from the court system.
I have noted one C-47 is missing from the ramp of late...and the Saber logo has been painted over on at least two of the C-47's. One acft remains parked and engine-less in a corner of their ramp , due to a MLG collapse while taxiing off the ramp in CLT sometime ago.

 

[longing4piedmont]

PI-RDU-SS

My avatar says it all!!!!

PI was the first bird (Fairchild) I ever flew and I have loved the folks associated with PI ever since. They would do just about anything to help a customer. (i.e. Mclean Stevenson) I'm not sure, but I think I joined what is now DM the first year it existed. Has it been that long ago?

The folks who were on the front line certainly adopted the culture of Mr. Davis, and to this day I can spot a PI crew on a plane about 90% of the time. I had the pleasure of meeting him once and he was everything folks say about him. I went to school with his daughter and ever once in awhile I hear through the grapevine she is still a F/A with US.

Thanks for the memories!

L4PI

 

[PI-RDU-SS]

Dear All:

Yes I do remember a great Sales and Marketing Dept. plus the Adv. Agency MS&R. What a combo. We were able to sell and market the great front line employees of PI because what we said in sales calls and in ads were the truth. No hype just truth. We had whole series of ads on the people of PI and not planes and destinations. It said "Our planes don't fly faster our people just work harder and are happier."

PI never did retreat from the early LCC like PE or NYAir. Let me tell you some of the typical things PI-RDU -SS team did to be the first carrier to make PE pull out of a market and NYAir shut down a complete hub at RDU. THe first Hub to fail after deregulation. Also no MBA was needed just some good old "Andy Griffith common sense and a touch of some Barney Fife luck"

NYAIR: I flew them on a competitve review flight from SAV-RDU-DCA-LGA-BOS flt several times. They where the first to serve bagels on every leg of the flight. At that time in the early 80's bagels were considered stale doughnuts. I flew beside a man that stood up at the flt. attn. and said, if I have to eat anogher one of those stale doughnuts I'm going to puke and never fly this airline again.

NYAir had also gotten the US Gov contract to be the carrier of choice to DCA,LGA and BOS. These were three of the larger markets from RDU and crucial to PI. They under bid us on the rates by a few dollars. I spoke to the Travel Mgr. for EPA and NIEHS and asked her was there anything we could do to get back those psrgs forced to take NY. She said no. by the US Gov contract she had to use them with very few exceptions. I then asked he what she thought about the bagels they served on the planes. She did say that she did not like them as they did not constiute a meal according to Gov regs and she was having to give all travelers meal voucher for trips to these three markets. I asked her what would we could do to make her a breakfast that would count as meal and she could then leagally move them to PI. She said a sausage biscut was the minimum with coffee. I called INT HQ and we made two small adjustments, we put sausage biscuts on the morning flts and we also moved the dept time 1 minute backwards. NY left at 6:59 so she had to give meal voucher because flt left before 7AM. We moved flt from 6:59AM to 7:00 AM. That meant she could move all goverment psr from NY to PI even though they had the Gov contract as she did not have to give out meal vouchers because of bagels and 6:59 AM dept time. She could now save on her travel budget for air and not spend it on meals in DCA,LGA and BOS. In a few months NYAir actually closed the door on RDU hub at midnight and next day after closing nobody was there at ticket counter or gates. They just left town at midnight. Some PI Good Old Boys in Sales Dept that US ran off later beat the first Harvard MBA that then ran NYAIR and went on to become NWA VP of marketing. He now is teaching back at Harvard as an airline expert and to this day never knew a sauage biscuit and one minute took his airline down.

PE: We differeniated our self from PE. We ran print ads that showed what you got for $29 from RDU to EWR. PE- a seat. PI: FF Miles, boardiing pass and seat assgment in advance, free coffee before flight in public gate area, free Wall St Journal to read. More leg room, more flights, better on time service, inflight meals, PI Presidential Suites for the business man at both RDU and EWR. Loading bridge to plane, Newer 737's,new upgraded ternimals and the list went on and on. We put them side by side and PE had one checkmark for RDU-EWR $29. PI had about 15 check marks for the same $29. PE got dispurate and lowered the fare to $19. We matched and ran the same ads. Then PE was very dispurate and needed cash so they jumped from $19 to $49. PI made the decision to stay at $19 and see what happened. Guess who won that market! PI and it was the first market that PE ever pulled out of. No Harvard MBA invovlved in this, just great people on the planes and great people at the airport.

AA Hub: Although AA hub did fold under USAir times it was PI that laid the ground work to keep them from hurting PI's CLT hub. We came up with to cleaver ads, the first was run the very next day after AA announce it plans for RDU. It said" The Airline of the Year is not coming to RDU in 1985, it been here since 1948.!"

I met R. Crandell la few years later at a Press conference in RDU and he said it was the best ad ever against AA. So good that he said we could not responsed to it. He also said he had more respect for PI then USAir did and they owned us at that point. He knew what would happen, he told me USAir mgt would take us down and do internally what he r what he could not. He said they will ruin PI in a short time so AA was not worried longterm about PI.

We also looked and noticed that hub was in RDU but orginaning times for flights were mid AM and Mid PM and you could not do day trips to key markets on AA. PI ran an ad that said "AA's RDU hub is off-time even when it's on time!" Then it showed PI better flt times to DCA, LGA, EWR and BOS.

We held our own until USAir took over and the battle was lost, all self inflicted is what made it so sad.

Give me great people everytime over Harvard MBA's and I will beat you every time. Piedmont proved that time and time again. PI never really paid that well but you never heard any complants from empolyees, nobody ever left the company and you all chipped in and help make the Pride of Piedmont work. It was rewarded by being the smallest airline ever to win ATW's Airline of the Year and that is something USAirways will never win. PI culture was opposite of US we pulled together and US seems to pull apart. That is a reflection on mgt of the companies.

Prayers to PI family members still at US. There is life after US/PI merger debacle!

 

[Boeing4me]

Wow PI-RDU-SS, that is one of the best stories that I have read in a while. Everyone in the Virginias and Carolinas loved the old PI - that love is now gone. It is so sad to have witnessed what USAir did to PI.

The best and smartest thing that US could ever do at this point would be to go in and wipe the spider webs off all of the old PI policies, procedures, customer service standards and marketing methods. I really believe that this could make US shine once again.


I know that the world of aviation has changed - but the old PI formula was magic and it
would work today just as it did in the 70's and 80's.

 

[PI-RDU-SS]

Dear Boeing for Me:

I wish they could just get old PI policies and dust them off but they are long gone. I remember having to sign off the last day of Piedmont that all items of PI had been destroyed and disposed of and send in to USAir Legal Dept. Each item had a number to it and you had to sign off that you had properly distroyed it. (Typical US, they should have said you should be proud of the heritige of PI and take it all home and remember it and keep it as part of your life . But to get a 10 page legal document demanding destruction of all PI items was outragous! I never did do that I have everything in either the office I work at or have them protected and boxed up in my attic. The only thing I destroyed was that document.
(But what should you expect from the US Mgt that came up with that brillant "Slap in the Face ad to Califorina flyers;"Smile PSA is now USAir."

The Customer Service Policy never made PI what it really was. I am sure it was just like any other airlines. It was the great corporate culture that was a direct refeliction of Mr Davis personality and the Sr. Mgt of PI. You can write all you want about the airlines policy of how to treat customers, but if Sr. Mgt then turns around and really does not care about them you get USAir's problems and reputation. I know at PI when I worked the ramp or gates I could handle a psr's problem right then and there and not have my job threatened or have to write a 15 page reason why I put someone on an earlier flight rather then forcing them back to the ticket counter for just $15 more because a class of service was sold out and we had 15 extra seats open. Mr Davis said, "put the person on the plane and let him know you did him a favor and the $15. you saved him will so be a $150 profit in dollars and goodwill.

USAirways Management from 89-04 has never had the personality aor integrity to inspire a corporate culture to do what we did at PI. It was people at Piedmont and not a policy manual that made this happen.

I find it the most interesting thing that US will do about anything to keep PI name from being used by some people who know what to do with it. Henson names goes to PI, now ironicily ALG goes and they keep PI name. This company has disliked all the Andy Griffiths and Barney Fifies they got in PI merger but they fear giving that name up. They know in the right hands and people that is still one valuable brand name and what it really stands for. The flying public is smart enough to know that with the MGT groups that have run US and abused the PI name since 89 it is not the real PI and never will be. It would be like putting lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig.

This is confirmed over and over again on every website or talking to people about the airlines. People loved working for PI, (heck with what I made at PI we were a LCC but my dream was to get a 40 year pin from that company and loving working with all the great people of PI. I roomed with a USAir Dist Mgr in a pre-merger meeting when we were told we will take the best of both airlines. This Dist. Sales Mgr told me that he met a PI 3rd shift cleaner on a plane just before catching a redeye to CLT and he said this person had more pride in his job as a cleaner then he did for USAir as a W/Coast Dist Sales Mgr. (No disrespect to cleaners as I did my time doing that on flights.)

USAirways corporate culture of no real pride in company and gouging the customers in the N/E USA and E/Coast cities and destruction of PI and PSA is now coming back to haunt them and the future is dim. It seems they have no real plan or vision of what to do other then go after their own employees and then think they will give great service to flying public.

The only time US does a good job is when individuals takes pride in their self and work and do the right thing and that is usually against company policy. Ever noticed US never has won any awards from flyers or industry journals. They never will.

PI was not perfect as nothing is, but it was one great family and that includes the ablility to get named by one of the leading travel magazines as having the best "First Class service in the airline industry. At the time PI did not have First Class." coach service was so good that the majority of the top FF's in America thought PI had First class and it did not for about another 1 1/2 years. Now that is customer service and marketing brand mgt at it's best. But the management at PI all knew it was the employees at all levels that made it happen. It was not just VP's that made it happen. We just made ads about what the PI people were already doing everyday. Most airline come up with a hokie ad that makes their own employees laugh because that don't buy into it because mgt does not really live it.

The real PI is gone and can not be reborn, but it still lives on in the lives of those fourtunate enough to have worked or flown on it. Cherish those momments and move one with your life. I have but I will say there is not one day I do not think about the "Pride of Piedmont and the great people at all levels that made it so great."

Prayer to those still at US. I hope they can make it but they are now the Eastern Airlines of the late 80's.

Regards,
PI-RDU-SS

 

[N786P]

Had to jump in on this one.. I'am out of this aviation nightmare now with new career, I agree with" longingforpiedmonts" thread..when I few NR I could always tell when a ex-Piedmont crew was flying the trip...professional and fun.. reminds me of it mostly when I fly Southwest..U's upper management had better tighten up and get on track in PHL. If not, another BWI is on the way. Best of luck to all. There is a life other than this aviation train wreck.