The development and progress of Piedmont Airlines from its origin to the present as a local air carrier are traced, and Piedmont's accomplishments are compared with those of similar air carriers. Emphasis is placed upon the following areas of airline management as applied specifically to Piedmont Airlines and generally to other local air carriers: (1) Certification, route structure, financing, subsidies, and operational policies; (2) Organization structure, industrial relations, and employee training; (3) Transition from the Douglas DC-3 to the Fairchild F-27 and Martin 404 aircraft.

Founded by Thomas H. Davis in 1948, Piedmont Airlines was one of the most respected regional airlines of its time. This exhaustive history follows the airline from its humble beginnings at Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to its 1989 absorption into USAir after a buyout at the highest price ever commanded by a regional airline. Drawing upon corporate documents, local news stories, and countless personal interviews with former Piedmont employees, the author tells the airline's history in detail. Nearly 100 photographs show the airline's development, and two appendices provide comprehensive lists of its fleet and service destinations. Fully indexed.