Sponsor (July-Sept 1962)

HOW 'FLITE FACTS' TOOK SHAPE ^ Eastern Air Lines' unique radio campaign to inform customers of flight conditions in 10 key cities involved a lot of work, especially for FRC&H's timebuyer' KLastern Air Lines' "res" clerks and ticket agents received a belated "Christmas present" early this year — the airline's "Flite Facts" radio campaign. The electronic bauble makes work for the airline's employees much easier by informing customers of flight delays and cancellations via regularly scheduled radio announcements. This in turn reduces mob scenes at the airports and cuts down on the tremendous number of telephone inquiries about flight operations during holidays and bad weather. This situation, a recurrent one to which Eastern's president M. A. Mclntyre had given much thought, reached a climax of nightmarish proportions last Christmas after a buildup which began before Thanksgiving Day. It was a leathery-knot problem which Mclntyre determined to have unraveled. Not only was it bad business to do nothing, the former Air Force Under Secretary decided, but it particularly effected Eastern's Air Shuttle between Boston, New York and Washington — a service close to the carrier's president, and one of his best-known innovations since joining the airline in 1959. One thought which returned to Mclntyre again and again was that the key to the whole problem might lie in somehow broadcasting the information on delays, cancellations, and further airline data — in other words, to enhance customer conveniency by bringing flight data to the customers, reducing the need for them to seek that information from the airline. Mclntyre called in Eastern's advertising agency, Fletcher Richards, Calkins & Ilolden, to determine if such a plan could work. From this beginning, Eastern's highly successful "Flite Facts" radio campaign was 34 soon brought into existence. Starting as a test in four cities, "Flite Facts" has developed into approximately one-minute announcements every hour on-the-hour from 6 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, on a key radio station in 10 cities. The campaign began 1 March on WNAC, Boston; WCKR, Miami; WHN, New York, and WMAL, Washington, and was expanded 1 April to include WSB, Atlanta; WBT, Charlotte; WLS, Chicago; KTRH, Houston; WDSU, New Orleans, and WFLA, Tampa. At the agency's first meetings, presided over by Bradley A. Walker, board chairman and Eastern account supervisor, and by Sy Frolick, senior vice president, radio-tv, both the use of tv and radio was considered in a five or 10-minute time period daily. Tv was eliminated at this point for a number of reasons: the medium offered less physical accessibility for regular "news" broadcasts of the type planned; tv stations were unable to clear satisfactory spots in I prime time periods, and costs were much higher than radio. Now warming to its task, FRC&H had timebuyer Jim Kelly begin investigating all radio stations in the four cities to weigh the possibility of using each, based on each station's coverage, programing, rates, and other factors. In the meantime. Manson Steffee, FRC&H's tv-radio writer-producer on the EAL account, worked on sample "Flite Fact" announcements and KTRH, HOUSTON, aired its first "Flite Facts" (via now outdated phone set-up) with help of PGW radio account executive Gc-org Ponte (rear) and news director Ken Fairchild SPONSOR 2 .jri.v 1002