Airlines and Air Mail

by Van Der Linden, F. Robert

• ISBN13: 9780813122199
• ISBN10: 0813122198
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-03-01
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Kentucky

Summary

" Conventional wisdom credits only entrepreneurs with the vision to create America's commercial airline industry and contends that it was not until Roosevelt's Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 that federal airline regulation began. In Airlines and Air Mail, F. Robert van der Linden persuasively argues that Progressive republican policies of Herbert Hoover actually fostered the growth of American commercial aviation. Air mail contracts provided a critical indirect subsidy and a solid financial foundation for this nascent industry. Postmaster General Walter F. Brown used these contracts as a carrot and a stick to ensure that the industry developed in the public interest while guaranteeing the survival of the pioneering companies. Bureaucrats, entrepreneurs, and politicians of all stripes are thoughtfully portrayed in this thorough chronicle of one of America's most resounding successes, the commercial aviation industry.

Author Biography

F. Robert van der Linden is curator of air transportation at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vi
Preface	vii
Foundations	1	(16)
The Birth of an Industry	17	(18)
The Aviation Industry Comes of Age	35	(12)
Consolidation	47	(15)
The Calm before the Storm	62	(23)
The Post Office Takes Charge	85	(21)
The Watres Act	106	(31)
Realignment	137	(14)
Drawing a New Map	151	(36)
Reaction	187	(28)
Cord and Congress	215	(20)
The Democrats Take Control	235	(25)
Congress Assumes Command	260	(32)
Notes	292	(33)
Bibliography	325	(11)
Index	336