Thesis on "History and Importance of Airmail in the United States"

Thesis 18 pages (5981 words) Sources: 10 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Airmail in the United States

In the Age of Information, many observers suggest that email, instant and text messaging have virtually replaced the need for a national postal service in the United States, but the fact remains the U.S. Postal Service continues to deliver billions of pieces of mail each year and represents the largest service of its kind in the world. Although various classes of mail receive different levels of treatment, much of the U.S. mail continues to be delivered by air following a long tradition established more than 90 years ago. Indeed, the importance of air mail service to the development of the United States cannot be overstated, having contributed to both the development of the interior portions of the country as well as promoting interest and investment in aviation research and development that continues today. To gain some further insights into these issues, this paper provides an examination of the history and importance of airmail, including a discussion of the Contract Airmail Act, the Air Commerce Act, airmail during World Wars I and II, and how airmail and cargo fits into today's economy. A summary of the research and important findings are provided in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Background and Overview.

Today, the U.S. Postal Service delivers almost half of the entire world's card and letter mail using an assortment of "planes, trains, trucks, cars, boats, ferries, helicopters, bicycles, hovercrafts, subways and even mules" (Fact and figures about the Postal Service, 2008, p. 3). The history of the Postal Service's use of airplanes to deliver mail throughout the United States and abroad, though, is certainly not new and is as colorful as the early pioneers that barnstormed their way across the country, introducing aviation to all comers. Nevertheless, many people today may not realize that the history of air mail in the United States is fundamentally different from that of passenger services. In this regard, one historian notes that, "The Post Office Department's most extraordinary role in transportation was probably played in the sky, a role, unfortunately, little known today other than to postal employees and the pioneers of American aviation" (U.S. Postal System 1775-1993, 2008, p. 3). Likewise, in 1941, Glover and Cornell reported that, "The aeronautical industry of today is in reality two industries. One is concerned with the manufacture of airplanes, engines, and such accessories as propellers, tires and instruments; the other, with the transportation of mail, passengers, and merchandise on regular schedules over established routes. The problems and history of each are quite different" (emphasis added) (p. 707).

Although the pace of research and development in the aviation industry would gain incredible speed in later years, the United States government was initially reluctant to invest much time or resources in the newly invented airplane. For example, "In 1905, the War Department refused three separate offers by the Wright brothers to share their scientific discoveries on air flights. Even after the brothers had satisfied many European nations in 1908 that air flight was feasible, America owned only one dilapidated plane" (U.S. Postal System 1775-1993, p. 4). By sharp contrast, the U.S. Post Office Department, as it was called at the time, believed that airplanes held some significant promise for their purposes and authorized the first experimental mail flight in 1911 during an aviation meet on Long Island in New York (U.S. Postal System 1775-1993).

Likewise, while regular air mail service was still in the future, there were still some signs that things were changing in major ways both in terms of the technology involved as well as how people were viewing the airplane. For example, "Earle Ovington, sworn in as a mail carrier by Postmaster General Frank Hitchcock, made daily flights between Garden City and Mineola, New York, dropping his mail bags from the plane to the ground where they were picked up by the Mineola postmaster. Later, in 1911 and 1912, the Department authorized 52 experimental flights at fairs, carnivals, and air meets in more than 25 states" (U.S. Postal System 1775-1993, p. 4).

Based on the positive results from these early experimental flights, the Post Office recognized the potential for airplanes to carry a payload of mail, and postal authorities sought approval from Congress after 1912 to appropriate money to begin regular air mail service in the United States; as a result, Congress appropriated $50,000 from the budget for steam-and-powerboat service and additional air mail experiments were continued during 1916 (U.S. Postal Systems 1775-1993). It is important to keep in mind that these early efforts by the Post Office to apply these new technologies to the task at hand must have been a risky endeavor since the advent of flight was so recent and the amounts of money involved, though small by current measures, were significant at the time. The Post Office placed requests for proposals for bids in both Massachusetts and Alaska; however, it failed to receive any bids that would provide the service with aircraft useable for their purpose (U.S. Postal Systems 1775-1993). Despite these initial setbacks, though, Congress appropriated an additional $100,000 in 1918 to establish further experimental air mail routes, and the Post Office Department sought the assistance of the Army Signal Corps to provide the service with both planes and pilots for its initial air mail service. This approach was viewed as a win-win situation by both the Post Office as well as the military authorities involved: "Carrying the mail, the Department argued, would provide invaluable cross-country experience to student flyers. The Secretary of War agreed" (U.S. Postal Systems 1775-1993, p. 5).

In fact, the evolution of the aviation industry in the U.S. largely parallels the development of air mail service as well. For instance, by the turn of the 20th century, people in the United States had become accustomed to traveling long distances by trains which offered a number of advantages over other forms of existing transportation, including aircraft. As Heppenheimer (2001) points out, "The railroads had a quarter million miles of right-of-way in service, and offered both comfort and speed. Airplanes were faster, but not by much, and train stations were located downtown, where they offered particular convenience" (p. 154). It appears reasonable to assert that the introduction of air mail service and the competition for government contracts was responsible in large part for changing this perception among the general public early on. For example, according to Malin (1930), "The first field of government activity in civil aviation was the establishment of air-mail service between Washington and New York in May, 1918. This was owned and operated by the government. In 1919 the first division of transcontinental service was opened from Chicago to Cleveland, and during the next year the Cleveland-New York division and the Chicago-San Francisco division. Until 1924, when night flying was begun, the service was by train and plane" (p. 153). The first U.S. Postal Air Mail Service pilot was Max Miller, who flew a 1916 Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" aircraft with a maximum speed of 75 miles per hour (see Figure 1 below) (Boston, 2005).

Figure 1. Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny" aircraft.

Source: 146th Airlift Wing, 2007 at https://www.146aw.ca.ang.af.mil/aircraft.htm.

During its first quarter of operations, the Post Office employed Army pilots only as well as six Jenny training planes of the Army (JN-4Hs) as shown in Figure 1 above (U.S. Postal Systems 1775-1998). According to these historians, "On August 12, 1918, the Post Office took over all phases of the airmail service, using newly hired civilian pilots and mechanics and six specially built mail planes from the Standard Aircraft Corporation" (U.S. Postal System 1775-1993, p. 5). In fact, there were truly "daring young men" in some otherwise primitive flying machines. "These early mail planes had no instruments, radios, or other navigational aids. Pilots flew by dead reckoning or 'by the seat of their pants.' Forced landings occurred frequently because of bad weather, but fatalities in those early months were rare, largely because of the small size, maneuverability, and slow landing speed of the planes" (U.S. Postal System 1775-1993, pp. 5-6).

The "invisible hand" played a role in how air mail evolved as well, with the American public making it clear early on what type of air mail services they were willing to support and how much they were willing to pay for it. For instance, although Congress had set air mail postage rates at 24 cents (including special delivery), most people refused to pay for the more costly service and regular mail articles accounted for fully 50% of the mail carried by air mail service airplanes during the first year of regular service (U.S. Postal Systems 1775-1993, 2008).

The Post Office's long-term plans for expanding air mail service to the entire country began with an envisioned transcontinental air route stretching from New York to San Francisco in order to improve service and reduce delivery times in large part to help overcome the American public initial reluctance to use the more expensive air mail service. The first segment of this transcontinental… READ MORE

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