The interwar period, lasting form 1919 to 1939, is considered by many to be the "Golden Age of Aviation". In 1903, the first heavier-than-air aircraft was successfully flown by the Wright Brothers in North Carolina. This initial breakthrough was followed by 14 years of rapid development in the field of aviation, making airplanes more durable, maneuverable and fast.
The rapid developments in heavier-than-air flight led to the development of air mail. In 1917-18 the United States government began to initiate an experimental airmail program in the Northeast. In 1920, the first transcontinental airmail route was flown, using surplus aircraft from the Great War. This development cut an extraordinary 22 hours off coast-to-coast mail delivery, even despite the fact that these airplanes could not fly at night. That development came soon after, in 1921. with the installment of beacons by the U.S. army. By the mid-1920's, nighttime airmail allowed a transcontinental delivery in less than two days, cutting the trains' delivery time in half.
This new form of mail delivery brought with it government legislation. Not wanting to maintain the costs of airmail, the federal government passed the Contract Air Mail Act of 1925 (AKA the Kelly Act). This act set up competitive bids on airborne transportation, thus transferring it to the private sector. This act is very representative of President Coolidge's laissez-faire policies which favored free trade and a smaller government. A similar action by Coolidge was the establishment of the "Morrow Board", which aimed to create a national aviation policy. This board eventually led to the Air Commerce Act of 1926, which improved upon the Kelly Act.
In 1930, the Air Mail Act of 1930 allowed the postmaster general (at that time Walter Brown) to regulate airmail routes as he saw fit, This led to the "spoils conference", in which three large air mail companies were given the bulk of air mail routes. Scandal came to the air mail industry in 1934, with the aptly named 1934 Air Mail Scandal. Following the Democratic victory in the election of 1932, the routes set by Brown were investigated and found to be favorable to companies favored by the Hoover administration. In 1934, the contracts set up by the "spoils conference" were cancelled, and airmail service was taken over by the U.S. Army Air Corps, which proved to be unreliable and dangerous to pilots. Air mail service returned to private hands in 1934, now regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission.http://www.avjobs.com/history/
http://postalmuseum.si.edu/collections/object-spotlight/1934-airmail-scandal.html
Very unique post about airmail. I find it interesting that the government granted three air mail companies a monopoly, similar to the government's actions concerning the railroads. Do you believe that the U.S. Army Air Corps should have remained in control of the airmail service?
ReplyDeleteFor more information on the Kelly Act:
http://avstop.com/history/needregulations/act1925.htm
This is a very interesting post. I like how you wanted to do research on a topic that was little covered in class and the book. The introduction of air mail must be very important because it sped up messaging. People could now communicate much quicker. I recently wrote a post on the development of the first airplane by the Wright Brothers, and this definitely helped move the process of air mail along. It is interesting that the mail would end up being regulated by the Interstate Commerce Commission, infamous for having very lax regulations.
ReplyDeleteTime was and is of the essence so saving as much of it is the best thing to do. Airmail brought that. It made traveled further and faster than a car and I like how you talked about the effects of that.
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