By Ken Otterbourg
JOURNAL BUSINESS REPORTER
CHARLOTTE - Edwin I. Colodny, the chairman, president and chief executive of USAir Group Inc., said yesterday that a merger between USAir and Piedmont Aviation Inc. would not result in job losses for the vast majority of Piedmont employees in Winston-Salem and Greensboro.
Speaking at Douglas International Airport after a day of speaking and business engagements in the Charlotte area, Colodny said, "In our view, in the Triad area the bulk of employment will remain and, frankly, in certain areas will be increased.
"There's a major reservation center, a training center and a maintenance center. None of those activities are impacted. They're going to grow." The only issue, he said, is the headquarters staff, the officers and the senior managers.
Colodny cited Piedmont's and USAir's aggressive purchases of planes as proof that there would be new employment opportunities for nearly all of the 35,000 employees of the two airlines.
Piedmont's headquarters at One Piedmont Plaza on First Street employs about 400 people, including top executives and marketing, sales, accounting and legal departments. Colodny said that these offices would continue to be used, although the building probably would not continue in its present role. He also said that relocations of personnel throughout the Piedmont system would be possible.
USAir, of Washington, D.C., announced March 9 that it would acquire Piedmont for $69 a share in cash, or $1.59 billion. The U.S. Department of Transportation has approved USAir's tender offer of 50.1 percent of Piedmont stock, but will hold a full hearing on whether to approve the full merger.
Colodny said that he had very preliminary discussions with officials in Winston-Salem concerning the relocation of USAir's corporate headquarters to Winston-Salem from National Airport in Washington. But Colodny said that the possibility of a relocation - to Winston-Salem, Charlotte, Baltimore or any other city - would not be great.
Colodny said that none of Piedmont's reservations centers would be closed. In addition, he said that USAir has told officials in Dayton, Ohio, and in Baltimore, the sites of two of Piedmont's major hubs, that "there will be no changes in the programs Piedmont has planned."
He said that "Piedmont's programs at Charlotte, its most important hub," also would continue.