Airlines of the United States since 1914

A comprehensive history of commercial airline flight in this country. Traces the story from the first tentative steps with flying boats in Florida in 1914 up to the present day. There are chapters on the exploratory pioneer days before the Air Mail Act of 1925, the adventurous years of the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Air Mail Scandal of 1934 and the era of the DC-3, culminating in the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938, and the establishment of the basic framework of the airline industry as we know it today. There are chapters on all the main categories of present-day airlines, Trunks, Local Service, International, Supplemental, All-Cargo, and of the U.S. overseas territories. The historical development of routes, fleets and fortunes of every airline, large or small - including the Commuter Airlines - are dealt with in a narrative which avoids excessive statistical detail. There are numerous tables of data, supplemented by many maps and charts. The progress and contribution made by the aircraft manufacturers in providing the tools of the airline trade is given full emphasis, and illustrated by almost 500 photographs.