The Air Mail Act of 1925, also known as the Kelly Act, was a key piece of legislation that intended to free the
airmail from total control by the
Post Office Department.
In short, it allowed the
Postmaster General to contract private companies to carry mail.
The Act was sponsored by
Clyde Kelly
Melville Clyde Kelly (August 4, 1883 – April 29, 1935) was an American politician and publisher who served as a Republican Party member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania.
Biography
M. Clyde Kelly was born in Bloomfield, ...
, and became legislation in February that year.
The act created a bidding period for small airmail routes, setting rates and subsidies contractors would receive for flying mail. The first contracts were awarded to
Colonial Air Transport,
National Air Transport
National Air Transport was a large United States airline; in 1930 it was bought by Boeing. The Air Mail Act of 1934 prohibited airlines and manufacturers from being under the same corporate umbrella, so Boeing split into three smaller companies, o ...
,
Robertson Aircraft Corporation,
Western Air Express and
Varney Air Lines. Contractors were paid $3.00 per pound of mail for the first 1,000 miles traveled.
Due to the surplus aircraft available after the
First World War, particularly
De Haviland DH-4s, the act bolstered a nascent aviation industry in the United States.
By 1927, over 2.5 million miles were traveled by US Airmail Service planes, carrying over 22 million letters.
Further regulation ensued quite rapidly, such as those issued by second assistant postmaster general Col. Paul Henderson, which required pilots and their aircraft to receive a
certificate of airworthiness from the Post Office, and that each company needed to post at least ten thousand dollars in good faith bonds.
Associated United States Federal Statutes
United States
legislation authorizing aerial navigation and contract services for the transportation of United States air mail.
See also
:
Air Mail scandal
:
Aviation Service Act
:
Aviation Act of 1917
References
External links
*
* *
*
{{Postage stamps of the United States
Postal system of the United States
Airmail
United States federal postal legislation
1925 in American law