Aviation History

1
Aviation History

• Mike Bush

2
Aviation History

• Why study history?
• To establish a baseline or benchmark
• To identify trends
• This brief survey will attempt to relate to the
  history of air traffic control

3
Aviation History

• The Wright brothers first flew on December 17,
  1903, ( think about the accomplishments in less
  than one hundred years
• 1908-during a demonstration flight for the army,
  Orville Wright crashed killing lt. Thomas
  Selfridge-the first aviation fatality of the so
  called modern age

4
Aviation History

• Age of the birdman lasted from 1909 until World
  War I
• During this time period, there was very little
  use for the airplane as they had unreliable
  engines and small payload capacities
• However, there was a fascination with the
  airplane and air shows were quite popular

5
Aviation History

• Perceptions of aviation safety during the period
• Airplanes were obviously unsafe
• Only a brave idiot would go up in an airplane
• Elements of danger was emphasized by aviators
  trying to draw crowds to shows
• a lot of accidents during this period reinforced
  that perception

6
Aviation History

• Perceptions (continued)
• In 1910, 37 pilots were killed, a ratio of 1 in
  seven then flying
• Accidents were generally regarded as the
  inevitable outcome of flying activities

7
Aviation History

• World War I was a turning point in the
  development of aircraft. The military value was
  quickly recognized and production increased
  significantly to meet demand for planes from
  various governments

8
Aviation History

• An important development was the introduction of
  more powerful engines which enabled airplanes to
  reach speeds of up to 130 miles per hour

9
Aviation History

• Airmail-By 1917, the U.S. Government felt that
  aircraft development had progressed enough to
  warrant transport of mail by air. Congress
  appropriated 100,000 for an experimental,
  jointly operated (Army Post Office), route
  between Washington D.C. and New York. The first
  flight was May 14, 1918.

10
Aviation History

• Due to a large surplus of military aircraft, the
  P.O. began developing transcontinental air
  service. The first segment was between Chicago
  and Cleveland (May 15, 1919). The route was
  completed on Sept 8, 1920. As airplanes could
  not fly at night, the mail was loaded onto trains
  at the end of the day. A 22 hour time savings
  was realized coast to coast.

11
Aviation History

• Commercial Aviation
• 15May18, P.O. started airmail service in U.S
• Used aircraft and pilots from Army
• In Aug. P.O. took over operation completely
• hired own pilots
• bought own aircraft
• First route between D.C. and NY
• 1919 service added to Chicago via Cleveland and
  in 1920 from Chicago to San Francisco

12
Aviation History

• Commercial Aviation
• Pilots were true pioneers
• flew open cockpit in all weather
• no radios with primitive instruments
• uncharted routes

13
Aviation History

• Commercial Aviation
• Early years, routes marked by bonfires
• 1923, first electric beacon installed along
  airways
• Rotating beacons atop 50 foot towers about 15
  miles apart
• Emergency fields were build at intervals between
  towers

14
Aviation History

• Commercial Aviation
• Many opposed development of Airmail Svc
• Railroads view govt. subsidized mail service as
  unfair competition
• P.O. justified airmail service as experimental in
  nature, therefore requiring federal funds
• By 1925 airmail service had developed to the
  point that it was no longer considered
  experimental
• P.O.. ready to turn it over to private enterprise

15
Aviation History

• Commercial Aviation
• Kelly Bill of 1925
• Made possible the private carrying of mail
• Authorized the P.O. to contract for airmail
  service
• Allowed the contractor to be paid 80 of the
  airmail revenue for carrying it
• Incentive needed to get big business into the
  aviation field
• Marked beginning of Commercial Aviation in U.S

16
Aviation History

• Commercial Aviation
• Kelly Bill
• Shot in the arm for aviation industries
• New mail contract created demand for newer and
  larger aircraft
• Commercial passenger were beginning to be flown
  on mail routes
• More profitable to carry mail than pax
• Most mail planes were small only two/three pax

17
Aviation History

• The Contract Air Mail Act of 1925 (Kelly Act)
• The five initial contracts were National Air
  Transport (Curtiss Aeroplane Co.) Varney Air
  Lines, Western Air Express, Colonial Air
  Transport and Robertson Aircraft Corp

18
Aviation History

• National and Varney became United (originally a
  joint venture of Boeing and Pratt and Whitney)
• Western and Transcontinental Air Transport would
  merge to form TWA
• Robertson merged with Colonial to form the
  nucleus of American Airways
• Juan Trippe of Colonial would form Pan Am

19
Aviation History

• The Morrow Board-in 1925, Coolidge appointed a
  board to recommend a national aviation policy.
  Dwight Morrow (Anns father) was chairman. The
  key recommendation was that the government should
  set the standards for civil aviation and that the
  standards should be set outside of the military.

20
Aviation History

• Commercial Aviation
• Air Commerce Act of 1926
• Authorized to license all planes and pilots
• Establish and enforce air traffic rules
• investigate accidents
• promote aviation safety through assistance and
  guidance to civil aviation

21
Aviation History

• Commercial Aviation
• Many accomplishments in flight following WWI were
  made because of prizes offered
• Accomplishments included most of the long range
  flights
• Flights over the poles
• Many flights leading to speed and altitude
  records
• One prize remained unclaimed, 25000 to the first
  aviator to cross the Atlantic nonstop from NY to
  Paris, offered by Raymond Ortieg

22
History of Aviation

• Commercial Aviation Matures
• Walter Folger Brown
• Postmaster General under Herbert Hoover
• Fostered legislation that gave him the power to
  build Americas domestic airline system
• He used the power ruthlessly

23
Aviation History

• McNary-Waters Act
• Amendment to Kelly Bill
• Approved 29Apr30
• Important provisions of the law
• Operators were to be paid for flying the mail
  according to space available for mail in their
  airplanes, which could be as much as 1.25 per
  mile for a Ford or Fokker Tri-motor

24
Aviation History

• McNary-Waters Act
• Provisions of the new bill
• The postmaster general could extend or
  consolidate routes when in his judgment the
  public interest will be promoted thereby
• Routes would be awarded to the lowest
  responsible bidder who had owned an airline
  operated on a daily schedule of at least 250
  miles over a period of six months

25
Aviation History

• The Waters Act and the Spoils Conference
• In 1930 Postmaster Gen. Walter Brown pushed for
  legislation that became known as the Waters Act.
  It authorized the P.O. to enter into long term
  contracts for airmail
• After the act was approved, Brown held a little
  publicized series of meetings that became know as
  the Spoils Conference

26
Aviation History

• Spoils Conference
• Brown called a series of meetings in DC to divvy
  up the new mail contracts
• Democrats later called them Spoils Conference
  because Brown had the last say so in who was
  invited
• He wanted three transcontinental routes and they
  must be under single management
• Only the big carriers could meet his stipulations

27
Aviation History

• Brown designated 3 trans-con mail routes and made
  it clear he only wanted one carrier operating
  each route. United, American and TWA were
  awarded the routes but this brought about
  political trouble.

28
United Airlines
Transcontinental and Western
American Airlines
North Route
Central Route
Southern Route
29
Aviation History

• Brown did not like the little guys of the
  airline business
• He wanted all large carriers to get the spoils

30
Aviation History

• Air Mail Act of 1934 - After the election of
  1932, smaller carriers began to complain about
  treatment from the P.O. Hugo Black held hearings
  and by 1934, the scandal reached such
  proportions, FDR was prompted to cancel all mail
  contracts and turn mail deliveries over to the
  army.

31
Aviation History

• Black Committee
• Senator Hugo L. Black, Democrat from Alabama
• Was formed to answer complaints of airlines left
  out of Spoils Conference
• Testimony before the Black committee made it
  clear that the airline operators, big and small,
  had simply followed the rules set down by Brown
• Brown denied nothing. He wanted to give the
  American public the best air carrier network in
  the world

32
Aviation History

• Black Committee
• Committee established that Brown had been a
  dictator
• No formal charges were brought against him
  because he had apparently acted within the law
• However, President Roosevelt, acting on the
  advice of the Attorney General, announced on
  9Feb34 that all airmail contracts would be
  cancelled on the 19th

33
Aviation History

• Black Committee
• Roosevelt told reporters that the airways system
  had been mapped out in a series of Spoils
  Conferences attended by W.F. Brown and a handful
  of his favored airlines operators, that small
  operators were denied the chance to bid on
  airmail routes, and that some airlines had been
  grossly overpaid for carrying the mail

34
Aviation History

• The Army Flies the Mail
• On 19 Feb 34 the U.S. Army took over the task of
  flying the airmail
• Postmaster James Farley agreed that only 9000
  miles of the 27000 mile system would be served
• With only 10 days preparation, airplanes with few
  instruments (some without compasses) and non
  instrument rated pilots, in the worst weather of
  the year, started flying the mail

35
Aviation History

• The Army Flies the Mail
• At the end of the first week, five pilots had
  died and six critically injured
• By the second week in March, the mounting toll of
  accidents appalled the nation and had Roosevelt
  looking for a way out
• On 10 march, he announced that the air mail would
  be returned to the airlines as soon as possible

36
Aviation History

• The Army Flies the Mail
• A total of 12 army fliers died before the mail
  could be handed back to the airlines

37
Aviation History

• The army pilots were unfamiliar with the routes
  and the winter weather took its toll. After a
  number of accidents and public outcry, FDR was
  forced to change plans after only 1 month.
• The Air Mail Act of 1934 once again gave the mail
  contracts to the private sector.

38
Aviation History

• The Rascals are punished
• Postmaster Farley managed that by decreeing that
  no airline which had been represented at the 1933
  spoils conference would be given a mail contract
  and that the major airmail routes would be
  awarded only to bidders possessing multi-engine
  aircraft. That is why American Airways suddenly
  become American Airlines, Northwest made a
  similar change and TWA added Inc. to their name

39
Aviation History

• Bidding was restructured and former contract
  holders were not allowed to bid. However, the
  older companies changed their names and appointed
  new executives.
• The act also forced the dismantling of the
  vertical holding companies sending aircraft
  manufacturers and airline operators their
  separate ways.

40
Aviation History

• 1938 Civil Aeronautics Act-One of the most
  important aviation bills ever enacted by
  Congress. Until this time, numerous government
  agencies and departments had a hand in aviation
  policy. Carriers had been steadily losing money
  since the 1934 reorganization and called for
  greater government regulation through an
  independent agency.

41
Aviation History

• This act created the Civil Aeronautics Authority
  (CAA) and gave the agency power to regulate
  airline tariffs, airmail rates, interline
  agreements, mergers and routes. Its mission was
  to preserve order in the industry, maintain
  stable rates, and nurture the financially shaky
  industry.

42
Aviation History

• Congress also created a separate agency, the Air
  Safety Board, to regulate carriers on matters of
  safety. In 1940, FDR convinced congress to
  transfer the safety regulatory function to the
  CAA which was named the Civil Aeronautics
  Board(CAB). These regulatory moves coupled with
  technological advances put the industry on the
  road to success.

43
Aviation History

• The Federal Aviation Act of 1958-Following World
  War II, air travel soared, but so did problems.
  In 1956, two aircraft collided over the Grand
  Canyon and 128 people killed. The existing
  systems of ATC was outdated and Congress
  responded with the Federal Aviation Act of 1958.

44
Aviation History

• The legislation created a new safety regulatory
  agency, the Federal Aviation Agency(changed to
  Administration in 67). The agency was charged
  with establishing and running a broad ATC system
  to maintain safe separation of aircraft.

45
Aviation History

• Legislation (Cont.)
• It also assumed jurisdiction over all other
  aviation safety matters. The CAB retained
  jurisdiction solely over economic matters

46
Aviation History

• The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978-Pressure had
  been mounting for years, particularly from
  economist who showed unregulated intrastate fares
  were lower than for regulated interstate flights
  of comparable distances.
• Another factor was the development of wide-body
  aircraft which boosted capacity.

47
Aviation History

• One other determining factor of deregulation was
  the Arab oil embargo of 1973 which led to higher
  fuel prices and inflation. Coupled with the
  economic downturn, this put a strain on airlines.
• The CAB responded by allowing higher rates and no
  increase in capacity.

48
Aviation History

• Consumers were unhappy with the decision and
  political pressure was on to deregulate.
• Even the CAB was forced to report that their
  services were no longer necessary.
• The act deregulated government control over rates
  and routes. Government regulation of safety was
  not affected by the act.