Smith Reynolds Airport

Piedmont Airlines (1948-1989) was based at the airport.[3] Predecessor Camel City Flying Services had become Piedmont Aviation, Inc. in 1940 and spent the 1940s building a base in flight training and airline sales. The company grew to over 80 employees by 1947 when the federal Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) awarded Piedmont Airlines a temporary certificate for regional air service. The company split into two divisions in order to continue to operate the fixed base operations (FBO) services and also operate four scheduled passenger feeder line routes extending from Wilmington, NC to Cincinnati, Ohio, serving twenty-two airports with one of three of the original DC-3s affectionately known as the Pacemakers. According to the airline's July 1, 1948 system timetable, Piedmont was operating nonstop service from the airport to both Bristol, TN and nearby Greensboro-High Point, NC as well as direct, no change of plane service to Cincinnati, Lexington, Raleigh-Durham, Goldsboro, NC, New Bern, NC, Morehead City-Beaufort, NC and Wilmington, NC with all flights on Douglas DC-3s.[4] The route between Winston-Salem and Greensboro-High Point was the shortest commercial flight in the U.S. at 16 miles.

By 1953 Piedmont Airlines employed over 680 people and grossed over $5.3 million on almost 3,000 miles (4,800 km) of routes. In 1966 the airline was operating Fairchild F-27 turboprops and Martin 4-0-4 prop aircraft from Smith Reynolds Airport with fifteen weekday departures, direct to Asheville, Atlanta, Baltimore, Charleston, WV, Charlottesville, VA, Cincinnati, Fayetteville, NC, Kinston, NC, Knoxville, Louisville, Myrtle Beach, Newport News, Norfolk, Washington, DC, Wilmington and other destinations.[5]

In 1968 Piedmont was flying Boeing 727-100 jetliners nonstop to Asheville and Roanoke and direct to Atlanta, New York La Guardia Airport and Charlottesville. Piedmont also flew Fairchild Hiller FH-227B turboprops from INT.[6] By 1978, the airline was operating Boeing 727s and Boeing 737-200s in addition to NAMC YS-11 turboprops and had added direct jets to Chicago O'Hare Airport and nonstop jets to Washington National Airport.[7] In 1983 all Piedmont flights from Smith Reynolds Airport were being operated with Boeing 737-200 jets with nonstops to Atlanta and Washington D.C. and direct flights to Denver and Louisville with a total of four 737 departures a day being operated.[8]

Piedmont had grown into one of the nation's major airlines with an all-jet mainline fleet when it was acquired by and merged into USAir in 1989. Piedmont's largest operation in later years was located at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, a major hub for the airline, but Piedmont continued to serve Smith Reynolds Airport as well. USAir (later US Airways which has since been merged into American Airlines) closed its INT crew base in 1991. Their heavy aircraft maintenance base was closed in September 1998, leaving only specialty maintenance shops, the last of which closed in 2005. US Airways maintained its largest reservations center in Winston-Salem before merging with American.

Capital Airlines and Eastern Air Lines operated flights into Smith Reynolds Airport until 1961. The June 1, 1960 Eastern Air Lines system timetable listed nonstop flights to Washington National Airport and Charlotte as well as direct service between INT and New York La Guardia Airport, New York Newark Airport, Atlanta, Providence, RI, Richmond, VA, Atlantic City, NJ, Wilmington, NC and other destinations operated with Convair 440, Lockheed Constellation (L-1049 "Super-G" model) and Martin 4-0-4 prop aircraft.[9] According to its June 1, 1961 system timetable, Capital Airlines was serving the airport with British-manufactured Vickers Viscount four engine turboprops with nonstops to Asheville, NC and Richmond, VA and direct one stop service to Atlanta and Washington National Airport.[10] Capital and Eastern then ceased serving the airport and the only scheduled passenger airline flights were then operated by Piedmont and its successors. Nonstops operated by Piedmont may never have reached beyond Washington, DC and Atlanta.

By 1984, the only scheduled air carrier flights were being operated by commuter turboprops to the nearby Piedmont hub at Charlotte (CLT). In 1989, USAir Express was operating seven flights a day between the airport and Charlotte with British Aerospace BAe Jetstream 31 and Short 360 commuter turboprop aircraft.[11] By 1999, successor US Airways Express was operating only three flights a day between the airport and Charlotte with BAe Jetstream 31 commuter propjets.[12] US Airways Express commuter air carrier CCAir then ceased its code share service operated on behalf of US Airways to Charlotte in January 2000 and Winston-Salem has not had air carrier flights associated with a major airline since then. The airport maintains high volume and income with general aviation and private business aircraft activity via Landmark Aviation. More recently, the airport was receiving monthly service from regional carrier ViaAir operating Embraer EMB-120 Brasilia turboprops from Orlando/Sanford International Airport; however, this service was then discontinued by ViaAir.

The airport receives FedEx Feeder air freight service from two destinations (Kinston, NC and Greensboro, NC)