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Airlines and Air Mail: The Post Office and the Birth of the Commercial Aviation Industry

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From time to time a book on aviation history comes along that is well researched, written with clarity and fills a void needed in the field. "Airlines and Air Mail: The Post Office and the Birth
of the Commercial Aviation Industry" by F.R. van der Linden is such a book. The content of the book has new material presented in a scholarly manner for those interested in the story of how the U.S. civil aviation industry was established in the United States between the two World Wars. This outside of the cockpit story is a dynamic dissertation that provides insight on how forward thinking individuals both in government and industry overcame bureaucracy, hidden agendas, uncertain budget cycles inside the two party political system to establish a new reliable and safe transportation system we know today as the Airlines. In addition, the author provides the reader with a detailed explanation of key events that drove the airline industry and government to make the kind of legislative, regulatory and management decisions they made during the turbulent decade of the 1930's.
Bottom line, this book, is a major contribution to written aviation history and will serve as an excellent source of factual history for those interested in airline development in the United States.

F. Robert van der Linden (VDL) argues that federal involvement in the airline industry began in the mid-1920's long before FDR's New Deal and the Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938. Progressive Republicans used indirect mail subsidies to promote the development of aviation in the public interest until such time as the industry would be able to stand on its own.

Central to this process was the role of postmaster general Walter Folger Brown who applied T. R, Roosevelt's New Nationalism principles to the nascent industry to foster a "rational" system of air routes. When analyzed in the context of this political philosophy, Brown is seen as a more sympathetic figure than historians have acknowledged.

The first chapters present a concise summary of the people, politics, and economics of federal involvement in aviation during the 1920s. VDL then proceeds to address the more controversial issues of his hypothesis. He establishes that, contrary to contemporary opinion, Brown acted in a reasonable and predictable manner to create a viable, though oligopolistic, air transport system. Brown "regulated the industry and its oligopolies in virtually the same manner as the Civil Aeronautics Board later would do for four decades." (xi) In the final chapters VDL describes how Brown's New Nationalism (i.e. "good trusts") conflicted with Senate Progressive Democrat Hugo Black's New Freedom philosophy ( i. e. monopoly is inherently bad) which led to Roosevelt's airmail crisis. In describing these events VDL resurrects Brown's reputation and confirms his rightful role in the development of American aviation.


Chapter 13 is VDL at his best. In a mere thirty pages he succinctly outlines the issues and prejudices of key players in the drama that unfolded as a result of Roosevelt's failure to articulate a cogent aviation policy. First there is Hugo Black who opposed monopolies. Then there are the independents who alleged Brown's malfeasance while purposely overlooking their prior mail contracts. Contributing to the mix is reporter Fulton Lewis who hated Brown. In a lengthy report against the Post Office and the airlines, Lewis ignored mention of Brown's Progressive Republican vision. Then, there is ICC investigator for the Black committee, Andrew G. Patterson's, bias against the aviation industry.

The Special Committee on Investigation of the Air Mail and Ocean Mail Contracts under Senator Black focused on aviation monopoly. VDL dissects the committee's performance and analyzes its actions in the context of Brown's New National philosophy. One cannot help but conclude that this was an example of politics at its worst. It is not a very flattering picture of the Roosevelt administration. Historians, in trying to paint the most favorable picture of New Deal aviation policy, neglected this period and instead focused on the Civil Aeronautics act of 1938, which came later.

According to VDL, in the tumult of the Roosevelt administration extricating itself from its embarrassment, Brown was exonerated. In the end VDL notes that "after the smoke had cleared, the large financially stable firms were once again carrying the bulk of the nation's airmail over a rational route system that followed Brown's original network."(286) For example Ernest R. Breech, president of North American Aviation, pointed to the Boeing 247 to underscore the fact that holding companies did not restrict technological development.

The key to VDL's thesis is that it is both broad and comprehensive. In applying his research in the overarching politics of New Nationalism and New Freedom, VDL has written an authoritative history of the federal government's involvement in fostering aviation. In the context of Progressive values, he presents a thoughtful and well argued interpretation of PMG Brown actions.