Piedmont Air Service

Piedmont Air Service, often referred to as Piedmont A/S or just Piedmont, is a low-cost airline operating in the United States headquartered at Charlotte, North Carolina. Piedmont offers high-frequency flight schedules from its four operating bases to both business and leisure destinations within the domestic United States. The airline is one of the ten largest airlines in the United States, flying nearly 600 daily flights to 107 destinations in the US, Canada, Mexico and Caribbean.

Piedmont is notable in that its regional services to smaller airports are entirely self-operated, making it the only major US airline to do so.

Founding
Piedmont Air Service was established on 25 December 2000 by Thom K Henson as a way to improve the connectivity of airports with high potential but low service. These included Piedmont's two initial operating bases at Charlotte and Raleigh–Durham, where the majority of travellers were connecting at airports to destinations that could be feasibly supported by nonstop flights. The airline started with thirty-two orders, sixteen each for Boeing 717-200s and Boeing 737-800s. Flight operations commenced with a Boeing 717-200 on 21 January 2001. Piedmont operated its first Boeing 737-800 flight on 17 June 2001 to Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin. By August 2001, the airline had expanded to ten destinations and had operated over 4,000 flights. Piedmont's first operational year saw nearly 150,000 passengers on just under 10,000 flights. By springtime 2002, Piedmont had converted its sixteen Boeing 717-200 and eight Boeing 737-800 options into firm orders.

Rapid Growth
Piedmont first partnership was launched in December 2001, taking effect in January 2002. Piedmont partnered with Greek-based Hellenic Airways and Iceland-based North Central Airlines, the latter of which rebranded to Air Nordic later on. With the launch of the two-airline partnership, Piedmont converted its frequent flyer programme's credit currency to International Credit Points (ICPs), making it the first airline to establish an internationally standardised currency for frequent flyer programmes.

Piedmont's first low-cost transcontinental flights began in May 2002, flying to Los Angeles from Charlotte. The airline followed up with flights to Las Vegas from Raleigh–Durham.

In December 2002, Piedmont made its largest aircraft order to date, increasing its Boeing 717-200 orderbook by forty-eight aircraft, positioning the airline to be the second-largest operator of the type. Starting in 2003, Piedmont positioned many of its new Boeing 717-200s at Boise Airport, which eventually became Piedmont's third operating base. Piedmont reached its fifty destination milestone in September 2003. In June 2004, Piedmont commenced operations to Montreál and Toronto, marking the airline's first international operations.

On 15 June 2004, Piedmont Air Service added forty Boeing 737-800 aircraft to its firm order backlog, making it the largest aircraft purchase for the airline in history. The deal was valued at $4.244 billion dollars at list price. In December 2005, Piedmont ordered forty Boeing 737-700 aircraft with intentions to base the aircraft out of Tampa, Florida.

In January 2006, Piedmont commenced service to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, making it the airline's first international route launch since June 2004 and marking the airline's entry into the Caribbean market. The same month, Piedmont began operations from its Tampa operating base.

In February 2006, Piedmont ordered its first set of regional aircraft, a set of thirty-two ATR 72-212As with a further sixteen options. Previously, Piedmont operated Boeing 717s on regional routes, forcing the airline to offer low-frequency high-capacity flights that had a lower load factor. Piedmont's order of ATRs enabled the airline to expand its regional offerings and increase its overall load factor amongst regional flights.

Destinations
Excluding airline partners, Piedmont A/S serves 107 year-round destinations within the United States. All of its destinations are served through its four operating bases.

Operating Bases

 * Boise, Idaho
 * Charlotte, North Carolina
 * Raleigh–Durham, North Carolina
 * Tampa, Florida

Airline Partnerships
Piedmont's first airline partnership was announced in December 2001 and took effect in January 2002. Currently, Piedmont is partnered with Iceland-based North Central Airlines and Greece-based Hellenic Airways. Piedmont's airline partnership system allows travellers to earn and redeem International Credit Points (ICPs) by flying with partnering airlines. International Credit Points can also be earned by spending money at participating locations at all serviced destinations through car rentals, restaurants, hotels and attractions.

Fleet
Piedmont Air Service operates 168 aircraft comprised up of 14 ATR 72-212As, 100 Boeing 717-200s, 4 Boeing 737-700s and 50 Boeing 737-800s. It has 68 aircraft on order. The airline is the largest operator of the Boeing 717.

Piedmont initially started operating Boeing 717-200s and Boeing 737-800s. Between 2001 and 2002, Piedmont exercised its options for both aircraft types, increasing its fleet size to fifty-six. Piedmont later added an additional sixty-eight Boeing 717-200s and forty Boeing 737-800s, bringing the airline's total fleet size to one hundred Boeing 717-200s and sixty-four Boeing 737-800s. Amid the closing of the Boeing 717-200 production line, Piedmont ordered forty Boeing 737-700s in December 2005 configured with 126 seats to operate routes with lower demand.

In 2006, Piedmont officially entered the regional aircraft market after ordering thirty-two ATR 72-212As.

Piedmont operates Repair, Maintenance and Reconfiguration (RMR) operations at the Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh–Durham airports.

Economy
Piedmont Air Service's Economy product is found on all aircraft. Piedmont's Boeing 717-200 Economy seats feature 18.1 inches (46cm) of width and 32in (81 ⅓ cm) of pitch. Piedmont's 737-800 Economy seats feature 17 ½ inches (44 ½ cm) of width and 31 ½ inches (80cm) of pitch.

Economy passengers receive complimentary food and drinks on all flights greater than 200 nautical miles (230 mi or 370 km) in length. Alcoholic beverages are available for purchase. Complimentary meals and alcoholic drinks are provided on flights longer than 1,500 nautical miles (1,726 mi or 2,778 km) in length. Seats feature charging ports and in-flight entertainment screens.

Economy+
Economy+ is Piedmont's premium economy product. Similar to Piedmont's standard Economy product, Economy+ is offered on all aircraft. Piedmont's Boeing 717-200 Economy+ seats are 18.1 inches (46 cm) wide and have 34 inches (81 ½ cm) of pitch. Piedmont's Boeing 737-800 Economy+ seats are 18 ½ inches (46 cm) wide and feature 34 inches (81 ½ cm) of pitch.

Amenities include complimentary food and alcoholic drinks on all flights greater than 200 nautical miles (230 mi or 370 km) in length as well, complimentary meals on all flights longer than 1,500 nautical miles (1,726 mi or 2,778 km) in length, in-seat charging ports and in-flight entertainment.

Premium
Premium is Piedmont's planned business class product, and is expected to be available on widebody Boeing 777-300ERs.

Passenger Experience
Piedmont permits two complimentary checked bags per passenger and complimentary flight changes within ten minutes to boarding. In the event of a cancellation, passengers are refunded an extra ten per cent through a travel credit.

To speed up boarding, Piedmont does not operate boarding groups. Instead, it splits passengers into Economy+ and Economy groups, and then allocates seats based on a first-come first-serve basis.

Sky+
Sky+, launched in July 2001, is Piedmont Air Service's frequent-flyer programme that offers points to paying passengers travelling on the airline's flights, paying passengers travelling on flights operated by the airline's partners, consumers utilising Piedmont co-branded credit cards and bookings with participating hotels and automobile rentals. Such points can be redeemed for airline tickets as well as upgrades to Economy+. Sky+ is the first frequent-flyer programme based in the United States with non-expiring credit.

Global Pass
Global Pass is Piedmont Air Service's virtual and in-person gift card system allowing the recipient to redeem credit for flights. Launched in July 2001, the same time as Sky+, the system allows for up to $10,000 worth of monetary transfer at once, and charges no fees for redemption. Points from Sky+ can be transferred into Global Pass credit.

Ownership And Structure
Piedmont Air Service was founded and is owned by Thom K Henson.

Headquarters
Piedmont Air Service is headquartered 3730 Glen Lake, Charlotte, North Carolina, near Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Piedmont utilises 33,402ft² (3,103m²) of space on the second and third floors.

Logo And Aircraft Livery
Piedmont's logo was designed by Thom K Henson. It's livery features a white fuselage with the company's name in blue and red lettering, a blue stripe across the fuselage, a grey stripe under the fuselage, light grey engines and the Piedmont aircraft logo on the tail.

Piedmont was the first US airline to use a non-hexavalent chromium material to pre-treat its aircraft. This replaces other hazardous chemicals used to aid in paint adhesion and resistance to corrosion while also reducing water usage by 60% and time usage by 8%.

Worker Relations
The Allied Pilots Association and Association of Professional Flight Attendants represents Piedmont's pilots and flight attendants respectively. Fleet service agents, mechanics and ground workers are represented by the Transport Workers Union-International Association of Machinists alliance.