U.S. Air Mail Service
The U.S. Air Mail Service was the Post Office Department's airmail operation, which began the nation's first regularly scheduled airmail route between Washington, Philadelphia, and New York on May 15, 1918, using Army pilots and Curtiss JN-4H Jenny planes.
What happened and why it matters
The Air Mail Service built the airways, airfields, and night flying methods from which commercial aviation and overnight air express later grew. Army pilots flew the first three months, and the Post Office took over on August 12, 1918, with civilian pilots and its own planes. It then pushed a transcontinental route west, with the first legs from New York to Cleveland and Chicago opening in 1919. Congress later shifted airmail flying to private contractors, giving early airlines their main revenue. The express and overnight air networks that let brands promise next-day delivery trace back to this government-built system.
Related events
Laws and regulations
Sources
- Airmail about.usps.com
- Airmail Pilot Stories postalmuseum.si.edu
- Air Mail airandspace.si.edu