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International Context Across the Atlantic... A Different Adventure - Part III

A New Challenge: The 1925 Air Mail Act

Under the management of the Post Office Department, the aerial postal service continued to grow until 1925. At that time, Congress decided that the pioneer days were over, and the aerial postal service had to be privatized. Congress was strongly influenced by railway lobbying: with the increase in the volume of airmail, the rail postal service was beginning to fear the efficiency of its new competitor.

Douglas M-2 Airplane
Douglas M-2 Airplane
Harris Hanshue, founder of Western Air Express, handing the mail to Fred Kelly, his Chief Pilot and Operations Manager. Western Air Express chose the Douglas M-2 airplane for its flight range and its ceiling.
Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Libraries
Up to this point, the Post Office Department was not showing any profit, while the rapid growth of the aerial postal network called for substantial financing. Expenses were exceeding profits. In response to political pressure, on February 2, 1925, Congress passed the Air Mail Act, which had been proposed by Clyde Kelly, a congressman known as "the voice of the railway mail clerks."

The aim of this new Act was to establish secondary sections that would connect the already existing transcontinental line. The financing of new lines greatly enhanced development of the U.S. aeronautic industry.

First CAMs (Contracts Air Mail Route)

CAM 1 New York-Boston, Colonial Air Transport
CAM 2 Chicago-St. Louis, Robertson Aircraft Corporation
CAM 3 Chicago-Dallas, National Air Transport
CAM 4 Salt Lake City-Los Angeles, Western Air Express
CAM 5 Elko (Nevada)-Pasco (Washington), Varney Speed Lines
CAM 6 Detroit-Cleveland, Ford Air Transport
CAM 7 Detroit-Chicago, Ford Air Transport
CAM 8 Los Angeles-Seattle, Pacific Air Transport
CAM 9 Chicago-St. Paul, Charles Dickinson
CAM 10 Atlanta-Jacksonville-Miami, Florida Airways
CAM 11 Cleveland-Pittsburgh, Cliffort Ball
CAM 12 Pueblo (Colorado)-Cheyenne (Wyoming), Colorado Airways


Poster
To save time use air mail 5¢ for the first ounce 10¢ each additional ounce
Reproduction of poster showing postal rates.
Courtesy of National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution


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Canadian Postal Museum