The original Piedmont Airlines began flying in 1948. Its route system stretched from Wilmington, N.C. northwest to Cincinnati, Ohio, with numerous intermediate stops. The airline was based at Smith-Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Early routes were operated with Douglas DC-3s
As Piedmont grew over the years, their route system primarily served the U.S. states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. However, by the end of 1978, and while still under U.S. route regulation, Piedmont had grown to include an area stretching northward to New York City, New York and westward as far as Denver, Colorado and southward to Miami, Florida.
Prior to deregulation, Piedmont had no true hub system. The airline was known for flying large jets into relatively small airports and for connecting unlikely city pairs with jet flights. Examples of this include nonstop jet flights between Kinston , North Carolina and Florence, South Carolina; Roanoke, Virginia and Asheville, North Carolina; Lynchburg, Virginia and New York City's LaGuardia Airport; Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Bristol / Kingsport / Johnson City, Tennessee; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina to Lynchburg, Virginia.
Piedmont's fleet grew along with the airline. Piedmont began operations with the DC-3 but added the Fairchild F27, the Martin 4-0-4 and the Fairchild-Hiller FH 227B to their fleet by the 1960's. Routes in the late 1970s were operated with Japanese built NAMC YS-11.
FSX
HDE 2.0
ENBseries bloom
Default DC-3
CalClassic Martin 4-0-4
AFG YS-11
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-Christian
