At convenient Cleveland lakefront Airport Sohio tank truck fuels one of TAG's Piper Aztecs. Downtown service and frequent flights are keys to the airline's success. INGER Robert Goulet was appearing S in a Detroit nightclub recently when he received an invitation to appear on a television show in Cleveland. The popular vocalist declined politely, explaining that his tight schedule would not give him time to make the trip. TAG Then someone suggested an airline called TAG. With flights every 15 min­ utes at peak hours, it would make Cleve­ COMMUTER land as accessible as a trip across town. Arrangements were made. Goulet left his Detroit hotel, made a ten-minute AIRLINE drive to City Airport, a 38-minute flight to downtown Cleveland, taped the show, and was back in Detroit without missing as much as a rehearsal. His e:h:perience, multiplied by 75,000 passengers a year, reveals the pheno­ menal success of TAG, by far the largest air taxi service in the world. In 1964, operating exclusively between

15 to the customer on the basis of 'go when you want to go.' " Instead of adding larger planes, TAG purchased more Doves. Today it owns 11 of the 70 being used in this country. Then, in the spring of 1965, when Columbus, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh were added - in that order - TAG added even smaJ]er aircraft. Against the advice Ross E. Miller founded of friends and critics, MiJ]er purchased 17 TAG Airlines when he spotted the potential in twin-engine, five-passenger Piper Aztecs. a new kind of short-trip All of the planes are fully instrumented commuter airline service. and can fly anytime the major airlines can operate. The pilots of both the Doves and the Aztecs and copilots of the Doves must have airline transport ratings and pass frequent airline tests. There the similarity ends. Officially, TAG is categorized by the Civil Aero­ nautics Board as a "third-level" airline, a classification that makes pilots cringe. Actually, the term has nothing to do with quality. It merely separates taxi service from the "first level" airlines such as TWA, and the "second level" supporting airlines such as Piedmont and Lake Cen­ Cleveland and Detroit, TAG accounted with an airline. tral, which are government-subsidized. for 65 percent of the total 100,000 pas­ The early years were experimental. To Recognizing the confusion which such sengers carried by 600 air taxi services be competitive, TAG would have to take a designation might cause, the air taxi in the United States. its passengers in landplanes to the heart companies now refer to themselves as Last year, with Columbus, Cincinnati, of business on a scheduled basis, its owner "commuter airlines." The industry asso­ and Pittsburgh added to the route, it reasoned. Trial service was made among ciation also has changed its name to nearly reached the 100,000-passenger mark the cities of Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Association of Commuter Airlines. by it:::elL and Akron. Then a careful study was TAG is fueled with Sohia aviation made of the results. AG must stick to planes with less than gasoline at Cleveland, Columbus, anu T12,500 pounds gross weight to be Cincinnati airports. It is served in Detroit HE; evidence was conclusive. Cleveland exempt from CAB routing and rate ap­ through Sohio's Fleet-'Wing subsidiary. Tand Detroit, with their close industrial proval. But, unlike the second level air­ It aJ] came about because one man ties, were compatible for the marriage lines, it can go into any airport it chooses. decided that he needed a larger airplap.e MiJ]er intended to perform with his little TAG chooses Cleveland Lakefront, to take on hunting and fishing trips. airline. Detroit City, Port Columbus, Cincinnati The Chicago and Akron flights were Lunken, and Pittsburgh's Allegheny oss MILLER, genial president of Miller dropped. TAG's focus zoomed in on County airports. ROil Company in Toledo and an avid Cleveland and Detroit, each of which had Gerry Weller, longtime leader in Ohio outdoorsman, had been landing his pon­ a downtown airport suitable for smaJ] aviation programs and now sales manager toon plane in the Maumee River near aircraft. for TAG, believes that it "doesn't actually his home. A smaJ] plane, it did not quite Since that day in 1958, TAG'S calcu­ compete at aJ] with the second-level air­ have the speed to take him where he lated guesses have proved to be uncanny. lines. Their function is primarily in inter­ wanted to go in the brief periods he could Most radical departure from accepted line operation to connect with the major take away from business. airline practice was its early decision to airlines. Some local service carriers depend Then in 1955, he heard that a larger stick with smaJ] planes and frequent trips. upon interline traffic for up to 90 percent seaplane was being sold by a Cleveland Miller started with a nine-passenger De­ of their total traffic. TAG is a terminal organization known as the Taxi Air Group. HaviJ]and Dove. Then, a~ bwine3~ grew, service. A passenger wants to go to De­ When he investigated, MiJ]er found he resisted the tempta ion to go to larger troit or Cleveland or Columbus, period." that he could purchase the plane, aJ] right. planes. A check with passengers supports But he became intrigued with the story "The first reaction a~ bu",iness builds Weller. of TAG. Using two large planes, it had is to add bigger planes, ' he explains. "But Rollin Winegar is a p!")duct engineer attempted to provide intercity charter this would defeat the purpose of TAG. and designer for Ohio Rubber Company service by landing on Lake Erie and the You have to look at the expected number of Willoughby, Ohio. When he wants to Detroit River. Sometimes passengers \Vere of passengers per day. Big planes with go over a problem with one of his Detroit taken to the planes by rowboat. the departure frequency we believe in customers in the automotive industry, But even then there had been some would get murdered by the empty seats he hops on a TAG Dove. An hour later demand for the service. Ross Miller pon­ at nonpeak periods. If we cut back on the he is conferring with his customer in the dered the situation. Then he made his schedule, we would be abandoning the Detroit office. decision. Having tra\-elecl to Cleveland convenience on which we have baser! our A grandmother boarding a TAG plane to buy an airplane, he returned to Toledo business. In essence, we plan our service in Detroit last month explained that she

16 was on her way to Cleveland, where her land until someone thought of TAG. The flight, one "no-show" represents 20 per­ daughter was being taken to the hospital checks were put on a noon flight. The cent of the load. to have her third child. By arrangement, owner met them at the Detroit airport lVlost TAG passengers are seasoned air the daughter had caJled her mother just at 12 :45 during a conference break for travelers, and 90 percent of them are before she went to the hospital. Less than lunch, signed them, and returned them men. This has produced a camaraderie an hour after the daughter would arrive on the 1 p.m. flight to Cleveland. unforeseen by even the most optimistic at the hospital, her mother would be in sales promotion man. Cleveland taking care of the two gTand­ OTH freight and pa~.,;enger services Passengers explain that they enjoy the children. B have grown tremendously in the past small planes. They get to know the 12 months. A year ago TAG offered a instruments, the planes, and the pilots. NE regular passenger explained that total of 32 departures a day. Today it is And they get to know each other. On O he had been transferred by his com­ almost 100 daily departures, and the many flights there are introductions all pany from Detroit to Cleveland, and was service is increasing steadily. There were the way around and handshakes upon commuting daily until he could find a 30 employees in 1964. Now there are more departure. house for his family. "TAG takes the than 100. Passengers request that the pilot use frantic house-sale-and-purchase problem At peak hours - 6:30 to 9 a.m. and the overhead speaker instead of the ear­ out of transferring," he explained. 3 to 6 p.m.'=:'- TAG planes leave Detroit phones so they can learn the jargon of the Most regular passengers are salesmen City and Cleveland Lakefront airports tower operator. Some of the regulars who have discovered that the "downtown every 15 minutes. That is more frequent show up early to reserve the seat next to airline" has in effect doubled their local than buses in the suburbs. the pilot in the Aztecs. market. Service is so good at times that it There are no frills such as snacks, Similar convenience led to an unex­ actuaJly creates a problem of passengers hostesses, and limousines. But TAG offi­ pected bonanza in the freight business. with reservations on one flight arriving cials have learned that none of these ap­ A need to rush engineering drawings, at the airport before the previous flight peals to the air commuter passenger. machine parts, and television film from leaves. When space is available, passen­ What is important is a flight schedule one city to another has created an over­ gers are dispatched on the earlier flight, that fits into a business schedule. All night freight business for TAG. thus leaving space on later flights for new flIght times are determined by a One situation found the owner of a last-minute passengers without reserva­ systematic study of requests. small Cleveland business firm in a con­ tions. Although 85 percent of the business ference at Detroit when one of his em­ The greatest problem, however, is the still depends on runs between the home ployees discovered that he had gone off "no-show" passenger who plagues all air­ port of Detroit and Cleveland, others are without signing the pay checks. Since it lines by reserving a seat and not appearing growing rapidly. Several Midwestern cities was payday, and only five hours from for the flight, while other prospective have applied for the service to accommo­ quitting time, confusion reigned in Cleve­ passengers are turned away. On an Aztec date the short-trip business commuter.

(

Detroit-Cleveland flights leave every 15 minutes during rush hours. Most passengers ore businessmen.

17 GINNY/JOYCE/

Four women of the many who contribute

HEN a tire, a battery, or a case of motor oil leaves any Sohio W warehouse, Virginia O'Loughlin will know about it. A senior stock and stores clerk in Regional Bulk and Wholesale Accounting at Home Office, she is responsible for movement and inventory records of products listed under some 30,000 "codes," or specifications. Ginny's work and experience help provide Transportation and Supply with the means of economically balancing the com­ pany's warehousing. Constant control of inventory prevents costly overstocking or understocking. After two and a half years at Western Reserve University, Ginny joined Sohio in the depression year of 1934. Through many promotions, she acquired experience and knowledge. She has capably handled her present type of work for 17 years. In her daily work, she deals with Sohioans in many areas. "It's really a co-operative effort," she explains. "I like people, and it's just a matter of everyone helping each other." She says, too, that, "I like work, be it office, housework, or gardening." She likes to read and is quick to dash off a witty poem on just about anything that strikes her fancy.

THE "dollars and sense" of Sohio marketing are the tools of Joyce Clark's trade. As market analyst in Home Office Mar­ keting Research, she surveys marketing operations from every aspect - profit, expense, sales, efficiency, and competition. "Most of my projects," she explains, "are not repetitive. They are in almost every area of lVlarketing operations." In one case she studies and makes recommendations on sales trends of an entire sales division. In another project she studies the efficiency of servicenter manpower, and in yet another tries to come up with a pattern of traffic in ratio to station sales. In eH~ry case, the object is to seek ways of increasing efficiency and profitability. Joyce came to Sohio in 1951, beginning as a statistical clerk in Marketing Research. She was promoted to her present job in the fall of 1963. Earning a degree in math from Denison Cniversity, she worked two years for American Steel and Wire Co. Then she took on a two-and-a-half-year tour of duty as coder and decoder of classified telegrams at the American Embassy in The Hague, Netherlands. "Getting away from it all," means vacation flights to just about anywhere in the world. She's a golfer, who describes herself as an "addict."

18 LYDIA/MARGE to Sohio's progress and profits ...

HIR of computers and clacking of automatic printers have W long since replaced the clang of cash drawer bells. Elec­ tronic equipment automatically turns out customer statements at a rate almost humanly impossible. But computers need hu­ man guidance. Senior Programmer Lydia Baird in Home Office Systems Analysis has the responsibility of making certain that customers get accurate statements. Millions of dollars are collected each month from service station dealers, big steel companies, railroads, airlines, and wholesalers who are billed by computer operations. Lydia's work helps to supply accurate information to computers. She also is in charge of the heat-oil program, both billing and dis­ patching through computer operations. Amidst the wonders of electronics, Lydia modestly sees her job as "a matter of common sense." She started work for Sohio in 1947 as a comptometer operator in Accounting's Bulk Station Checking. She was selected to take a three-week course in computer operations several years ago when Sohio installed its first IBM "electronic brain." She was promoted to her present job a year ago. After work and on weekends, Lydia's particular~interests are those of a grandmother of four. "I like to sew and read," she says, "but when you get right down to it, my main hobby is my family."

OINS going into vending machines jingle a profitable tune for C Sohio through its subsidiary Cardinal Vending Company. And helping to keep the music going is Marjory Steele, supply and distribution assistant for Cardinal Home Office. Marge has a one-woman job of co-ordinating purchases of merchandise supplies, machines, and vehicles for this wide­ spread operation. Working with Purchasing personnel, she co-ordinates operations involving millions of dollars' worth of candy, cigarettes, soft drinks, foods, and machines. A year ago, Marge moved from Purchasing to her present job. For 14 years before, she gained experience in purchasing everything from milled steel to service station uniforms to office interiors to refinery processing equipm-ent. To Marge, vending "is a fascinating business with real poten­ tial." She says she reads "everything I can get my hands on about the subject." All kinds of books, in fact, are major interests of hers. She spent several years as a buyer in bookstores in Columbus and Cleveland before coming to Sohio. On the more strenuous side, she likes to hike and garden. In the summer, two acres of lawn keep her in trim. 19