The Contributions of the U.S Air Mail Service to Commercial Aviation

The Contributions of the U.S Air Mail Service to Commercial Aviation

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The Contributions of the U.S Air Mail Service to Commercial Aviation

The launch of airmail took place in the United States in the year 1918 (Britannica, 2020). The airmail development was under the auspices of the United States post office. The main purpose of the airmail was to stimulate the production of aircraft and to produce a group of skilled pilots. The mass production of aircraft was for preparation of wartime. The United States airmail contributed greatly to commercial aviation.

Ways in Which Airmail Contributed To Commercial Aviation

The airmails had a top speed of 80 miles per hour. In fact, the airmail was the fastest compared to other planes that travelled at 75miles per hour (Britannica, 2020). The top speed of airmails enabled them to beat railway delivery time over extensive distances. Airmails made the delivery of services faster for example after the development of coast to coast airmail service, communication from New Yolk took only two days to arrive at west coast instead of five days by railway (Britannica, 2020). The airmail’s saving of time had a remarkable effect on accelerating clearance checks, securities that were interest-bearing and other businesses with time-bound transfers between financial institutions and corporations. Airmail service, under the air mail act 1925, turned over the mail service to contractors and later more advanced planes were designed and produced to compete with the opponent carriers (Kim, 2020). The air commerce act of establishing a bureau to enforce procedures for licensing aircrafts pilots and engines triggered the rapid growth in American aviation.

Scope of the Problem

Increase in development and competition of new technologies accompanied a new age of commercial aviation (Kim, 2020). As time passed, new demand for flights got a notch higher. After the airmail department passed production to contractors, it raised competition; hence contractors tried to manufacture new types of airlines (Null et al. 2019). The new aeroplanes lowered flight fairs so as to compete with other airlines. The modern era came with its challenges such as excessive flight delays to riskily narrow seats.

Seat Area and Width

There has been a sharp decline in airline seat comfort in the United States, especially passengers in the economy class. According to Kim, in 1985, seat pitch was up to 36 inches, but as of the year 2014, 30 inches has been the trend in airlines such as delta. The seat width has also narrowed up to 17.2 inches. The drastic decrease in both seat area and width, which has gone beyond customer comfort, may have profound effects on the safety of passengers (Null et al. 2019). Smaller sizes of seats is a big challenge, especially on evacuation in case of emergencies.

Pilot Shortage

Despite the continued high demand for air travels, pilot supply in the United States has decreased from 1987 by 30% (Kim, 2020). The pilot shortage is worrying considering the predicted increase of air travel by the International Air Transport Association. One of the causes of pilot shortages is a reduced supply of pilots from the United States military, and people do not opt to pay for private training since it is very expensive (Kim, 2020). Another factor that has contributed to this shortage is the change of flight time from two hundred and fifty hours of flight to one thousand five hundred flights per hour for new pilots, and this has made it more difficult to become a pilot. Lack of pilots means more flight delays.

In conclusion, the airline service should consider improving seat pitch and width so as to enhance the comfort of passengers. Airlines tend to travel over long distances; hence the consumers should be ensured of their convenience. For the seat area and width to be set, the airline service should also consider the ease of evacuation during an emergency. Delayed evacuation may lead to loss of lives and other valuable goods. The military of the United States should stop the habit of relying on unmanned aerial vehicles and start producing more experienced pilots.  Increase in pilots will reduce the cases of bankruptcy of airlines.

References

Britannica (2020). From airmail to airlines in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-flight/From-airmail-to-airlines-in-the-United-States

Kim, Y. (2020). Improving Commercial Aviation. Retrieved from https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5cb7e5637d0c9145fa68863e/t/5dbc60cf09c0524748bf6d91/1572626640487/Senate_CST_2.pdf

Null, C. H., Adduru, V., Amman, O. C., Cardoza, C. T., Stewart, M. J., Avrekh, I., … & Smith, B. E. (2019). Human Performance Contributions to Safety in Commercial Aviation.