Air Mail Act of 1925 (Kelly Act)

Signed February 2, 1925, the Act let the Postmaster General award contract air mail routes to private operators by competitive bid, initially paying carriers up to 80 percent of airmail postage revenue; a 1926 amendment switched to payment by weight. The first contract routes flew in 1926, and the Post Office stopped flying its own transcontinental airmail in 1927. Later laws, including the Air Mail Act of 1934, reorganized the contracts after the airmail scandal.

The Kelly Act shows how government mail contracts built private transport networks, a pattern that repeats in parcel logistics. Companies that flew early contract routes, such as Varney Air Lines and National Air Transport, later became parts of United Airlines. USPS still contracts air transportation of mail and packages with UPS and passenger airlines, and that volume helps fund networks e-commerce shippers also use. For example, Priority Mail Express pieces often fly on contracted cargo aircraft to meet overnight and two-day commitments.

• Priority MailUSPS 1 to 3 day parcel service

• U.S. Air Mail Service1918 · The first scheduled airmail route opens in the US
• First Air Cargo Flight1910 · A Wright plane flies silk from Dayton to Columbus

• Air Cargo Deregulation Act of 19771977 · Freed US domestic air cargo routes and rates
• Postal Reorganization Act of 19701970 · Replaced the Post Office Department with USPS
• Chicago Convention1944, in force 1947 · Founding treaty of ICAO and international aviation

1. Air Mail Act of 1925, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org