Air Cargo Deregulation Act of 1977

Signed November 9, 1977, the Act let US citizens obtain all-cargo air service certificates that must be granted unless the applicant is unfit, unwilling or unable, with no conditions limiting the routes flown or rates charged. It ended Civil Aeronautics Board approval of domestic cargo rates and lifted the aircraft size limits that had confined express operators to small planes. The provisions are now at 49 U.S.C. 41103. Safety oversight stayed with the FAA, and the CAB closed at the end of 1984.

The Act made the overnight express networks that e-commerce relies on possible. Federal Express could fly large jets on routes of its choosing, which led to hub-and-spoke overnight systems and later to Amazon Air and the parcel airline networks of UPS and DHL. For example, a retailer offering next-day delivery from a warehouse near Memphis or Louisville benefits from air hubs that grew after 1977. Domestic air cargo pricing is now set by carriers and contracts, not regulators, so shippers negotiate it like any other freight.

• Fred Smith1944–2025 · Founder of FedEx

• Federal Express Begins Overnight Service1973 · 14 jets carry 186 packages through one Memphis hub
• Launch of Amazon Air2016 · Amazon starts its own cargo airline
• UPS Next Day Air1982 · UPS adds guaranteed overnight delivery

• Chicago Convention1944, in force 1947 · Founding treaty of ICAO and international aviation
• Montreal Convention1999, in force 2003 · Treaty on airline liability for cargo and passengers
• Air Mail Act of 1925 (Kelly Act)1925 · Let the Post Office contract airmail to private airlines

1. 49 U.S.C. 41103, Operation of cargo aircraft only, Cornell LII law.cornell.edu
2. Airline Deregulation Act, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org