As of June 2nd, the fleet service agents in ILM will be outsourced.
Most of the agents have more than 25 years of service. They all started in their teens and early twenties. Nearly all are choosing furlough, as opposed to transfer.
Most are old PI, and have maintained that can-do spirit until the very end. Until very recently, ILM’s stats were among the best on the system. The agents were self-motivated and needed no supervision. They anticipated problems, and frequently solved them before they occurred. Had they not loved living in Wilmington so well, many would have gone on to become fine managers. But the beaches, the rivers and Southern courtesy were too strong a pull. Here they stayed, and here they will get on with their post-US lives.
They shared the history of ILM as a point of pride. On February 20th 1948, a DC-3 from ILM made Piedmont’s maiden voyage. Many of the current agents made friends with and were trained by the employees of that inaugural flight. All shared a deep affection and abiding respect for the founder of Piedmont, Tom Davis.
At one time, ILM was a crew and maintenance base. The crews, mechanics and agents were top flight. They regarded one another as family, and looked out one for the other. They flew the blue PI Speedbird license tag on the front of their cars. Soon, their friends and relatives had to have one, too. If you saw a Speedbird broken down on the side of the road, it would not be long before another Speedbird pulled in to help. Even if you did not know the driver, you stopped. It was a family matter.
Though brokenhearted at the loss of their beloved airline, the ILM crew accepted the reality of the merger, and threw their energy into it. When U lost operational control of the airline in 1989, ILM crews, mechanics and agents would piece together ‘cancelled’ flights. Non-rev flight attendants and pilots would fly the trips.
When SABRE was implemented, practically all flights across the system were delayed due to SABRE failures. ILM flights departed on-time, because the agents anticipated the problem and executed the manual fall-back procedures. This, over the express objections of middle management, who advised ILM to “let the system work.â€
Now all of that is passing. Had management worked as diligently to operate this airline, as ILM did to operate their station, it would not have come to this.
But come to this, it finally has.
To the ILM crew, you were the very finest.
Keep flying the Speedbird. If you have a flat, I’ll pull in and lend a hand.
Most of the agents have more than 25 years of service. They all started in their teens and early twenties. Nearly all are choosing furlough, as opposed to transfer.
Most are old PI, and have maintained that can-do spirit until the very end. Until very recently, ILM’s stats were among the best on the system. The agents were self-motivated and needed no supervision. They anticipated problems, and frequently solved them before they occurred. Had they not loved living in Wilmington so well, many would have gone on to become fine managers. But the beaches, the rivers and Southern courtesy were too strong a pull. Here they stayed, and here they will get on with their post-US lives.
They shared the history of ILM as a point of pride. On February 20th 1948, a DC-3 from ILM made Piedmont’s maiden voyage. Many of the current agents made friends with and were trained by the employees of that inaugural flight. All shared a deep affection and abiding respect for the founder of Piedmont, Tom Davis.
At one time, ILM was a crew and maintenance base. The crews, mechanics and agents were top flight. They regarded one another as family, and looked out one for the other. They flew the blue PI Speedbird license tag on the front of their cars. Soon, their friends and relatives had to have one, too. If you saw a Speedbird broken down on the side of the road, it would not be long before another Speedbird pulled in to help. Even if you did not know the driver, you stopped. It was a family matter.
Though brokenhearted at the loss of their beloved airline, the ILM crew accepted the reality of the merger, and threw their energy into it. When U lost operational control of the airline in 1989, ILM crews, mechanics and agents would piece together ‘cancelled’ flights. Non-rev flight attendants and pilots would fly the trips.
When SABRE was implemented, practically all flights across the system were delayed due to SABRE failures. ILM flights departed on-time, because the agents anticipated the problem and executed the manual fall-back procedures. This, over the express objections of middle management, who advised ILM to “let the system work.â€
Now all of that is passing. Had management worked as diligently to operate this airline, as ILM did to operate their station, it would not have come to this.
But come to this, it finally has.
To the ILM crew, you were the very finest.
Keep flying the Speedbird. If you have a flat, I’ll pull in and lend a hand.
