Location
Radisson Resort at the Port, Jamaica Room
Start Date
2-5-2000 1:00 PM
Description
During the 20s and 30s, aircraft contracts let by the War Department and airmail contracts from the Post Office Department were instrumental to advancing aviation technology and creating a commercial aviation industry. The Contract Air Mail Act of 1925, which directed the Post Office to contract out the flying of airmail enabled commercial aviation to be born, is discussed and shown to provide lessons for current and future space business markets. Boeing’s surprising victory over Western Air Transport during the 1927 competition for the Chicago-to-San Francisco airmail route is described. The “Spoils Conference” of 1930, whereby the airmail routes were doled out to the three biggest market participants, is shown to be somewhat analogous to NASA’s transition of the space shuttle to private industry. Excessive market concentration and profit-making on government contracts stemming from the Spoils Conference and the War Department’s aircraft contracts prompted congressional inquiries. The resulting legislation, e.g. the Air Mail Act of 1934, which restructured the aviation industry and limited profit making on government contracts, is described. That legislation provided a solid foundation for growth in the aviation industry during the rest of the century. Opinions expressed herein are those of the author’s.
Paper SessionI-A - Airmail and the Evolution of the U.S. Aviation Industry in the 1920s and 1930s: a Potential Model for the Space Industry in the Next Millennium
Radisson Resort at the Port, Jamaica Room
During the 20s and 30s, aircraft contracts let by the War Department and airmail contracts from the Post Office Department were instrumental to advancing aviation technology and creating a commercial aviation industry. The Contract Air Mail Act of 1925, which directed the Post Office to contract out the flying of airmail enabled commercial aviation to be born, is discussed and shown to provide lessons for current and future space business markets. Boeing’s surprising victory over Western Air Transport during the 1927 competition for the Chicago-to-San Francisco airmail route is described. The “Spoils Conference” of 1930, whereby the airmail routes were doled out to the three biggest market participants, is shown to be somewhat analogous to NASA’s transition of the space shuttle to private industry. Excessive market concentration and profit-making on government contracts stemming from the Spoils Conference and the War Department’s aircraft contracts prompted congressional inquiries. The resulting legislation, e.g. the Air Mail Act of 1934, which restructured the aviation industry and limited profit making on government contracts, is described. That legislation provided a solid foundation for growth in the aviation industry during the rest of the century. Opinions expressed herein are those of the author’s.
