A Brief History of Commercial Aviation

Legislation that occurred in history of commercial aviation.

The Kelly Act of 1925 and the Air Commerce Act of 1926 opened up endless opportunities for the success of a new commercial industry. In fact, the initial Contract Air Mail (CAM) service carriers selected through this process would in time and through mergers and acquisitions go on to become key players in the airline industry, including American Airlines, United Airlines, Western Airlines (which as mentioned would eventually be acquired by Delta Airlines, who was also a CAM carrier beginning in 1934), Boeing, Pan Am, Trans World Airlines (TWA), Northwest Airlines, Braniff, Continental, and Eastern Airlines... Starting with an initial group of five, a total of 34 Contract Air Mail routes would eventually be established in the U.S. between February 15, 1926, and October 25, 1930(Birth of Aviation, 2014). Companies like Ford began a commercial cargo airline called the Ford Air Transport Service and would be awarded the CAM6 and CAM7 airmail routes. Although not receiving one of the initial five routes, he would actually be the first of the carriers to begin operation in 1926, staking the company’s claim as “the world’s first regularly scheduled commercial cargo airline" (Birth of Aviation, 2014).

Ford helped shape the commercial aviation industry through the advancement of technology which made passenger air travel to be profitable. Eventually, companies like "Boeing would go on to introduce the Boeing 247 in 1933, and the Douglas Aircraft Company whose DC-3 would revolutionize air transportation for the next decades (along with Wright Aeronautical and Pratt and Whitney who would dominate the engine market for years to come)" (Birth of Aviation, 2014). Pilot Charles Lindbergh, who eventually was hired as an Airmail pilot to fly the CAM2 route, would go on to complete a solo trans-Atlantic flight which, through navigational planning, was able to land early and with fuel to spare.

He had a major impact on commercial aviation because he proved that flights could be completed while optimizing fuel and optimizing time and mileage. Though many in years past had invested in aviation ventures that had failed, suddenly there was a rush to Wall Street to invest in aviation, with investments in aviation stocks tripling between 1927 and 1929 (Birth of Aviation, 2014). The Guggenheim family would also go on to be a great influence to today's commercial aviation. "The philanthropic efforts of the Guggenheims were far-reaching and brought together some of the brightest minds in the nation. Tom Crouch writes again in Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age... The fund provided by the family would go on to create schools of aeronautics at major universities, including Stanford, MIT, and Harvard, among several others... One of those graduates was Herbert Hoover, Jr., son of 31st President of the United States Herbert Hoover and eventual Secretary of State under President Eisenhower. Hoover won a fellowship from the Daniel Guggenheim Fund to study aviation economics at the Harvard Business School, and would focus on the economics of radio in the aviation sector. He would use that education to help Western Air Express, in cooperation with Thorpe Hiscock of Boeing, to develop the first-ever air-to-ground radio while serving as Western’s communication chief. Under his guidance, Western would also establish a system capable of guiding radio-equipped aircraft along 15,000 miles of airways across the Western U.S. and in 1930 he would be elected president of Aeronautical Radio Inc. – a non-profit alliance between Western Air Express, Boeing, and American Airways that represented the airline industry’s single licensee and coordinator of radio communication outside of the government..." (Birth of Aviation, 2014).

Thanks to the established CAM routes, pilots that were willing to take risks and try new things, technological advancements, and generosity from the Guggenheim family, commercial aviation continues to be one of the most important industries today.

References

Birth of Aviation. (2014, December 12). http://www.birthofaviation.org/birth-of-commercial-aviation/