Air Transport Industry

I

Introduction

Air Transport Industry, area of commerce that uses aircraft to transport people, cargo, and mail. The air transport industry encompasses flights of common carriers (government-certified companies that offer cargo and passenger services to the public) and general aviation (private aircraft used for recreation or business). See also Airplane; Air Traffic Control; Aerospace Industry; Aviation.

The air transport industry supports a wide range of businesses. These include independent maintenance and repair shops, food caterers, aircraft cleaning services, fueling services, and airport security firms. The industry supports schools for pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics, as well as travel agencies, hotels, car rental companies, and other businesses in the travel and tourism industry.

II

Origin and Development

Flying for pleasure and adventure began during the 19th century, when European inventors experimented with hot air balloons and gliders. In 1910 the air transport industry was established in Germany when regular air service with gas-filled airships called dirigibles began to provide service between cities.

The first powered flights in a heavier-than-air machine occurred on December 17, 1903, when Orville Wright and his brother Wilbur Wright made their historic flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. On January 1, 1914, a group of Florida businesspeople launched the first scheduled air service using an airplane. For a period of four months, the Saint Petersburg-Tampa Air Boat Line transported a total of 1,200 passengers across Tampa Bay in a two-seat Benoit seaplane. The trip took about 20 minutes, and the one-way fare was $5. The service folded at the conclusion of Florida’s winter tourist season, but it was the first such venture that indicated scheduled air service could be commercially viable. Similar passenger services in the United States and Europe soon followed.

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Passenger air service developed faster in Europe than it did in the United States. World War I (1914-1918) devastated many of Europe’s roads and railroads. The war also proved the military value of airplanes and sparked a dramatic acceleration in aircraft production. At the end of the war, fledgling commercial air carriers took advantage of the ruined ground transportation system and the large surplus of aircraft and pilots. Air service within Europe flourished, and by the 1930s government-sponsored airlines were operating well beyond Europe to numerous European colonies in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

A

Airmail and Passenger Service

The United States suffered none of the devastation that afflicted war-torn Europe. Trains in the United States were fast, reliable, and far more comfortable than airplanes, so there was relatively little demand for air travel after World War I. The government decision to use aircraft to transport mail kept the U.S. air transport industry alive. Airmail service began on the East Coast in 1918 and by 1921 extended all the way to California. Initially the government used its own aircraft and pilots, but two laws of the mid-1920s were key to the development of commercial aviation in the private sector. The 1925 Contract Air Mail Act, also known as the Kelly Act, authorized the U.S. Post Office Department (see United States Postal Service) to solicit airmail bids from private airlines. The 1926 Air Commerce Act gave the U.S. government the authority and responsibility to regulate commercial aviation.

Many of the current major U.S. airlines descend from the early mail carriers, some of which were themselves subsidiaries of aircraft manufacturers trying to create new markets. Henry Ford, an auto manufacturer, was among the first to win airmail contracts. His Ford Motor Company soon began producing aircraft, introducing the Ford Trimotor, commonly referred to as the Tin Goose, in 1927.

The Ford Trimotor was one of the first all-metal planes and the first plane designed primarily to carry passengers rather than mail. It had 12 passenger seats, an interior cabin with a ceiling high enough for people to walk down the aisle without stooping, and room for a flight attendant. The first flight attendants were nurses who served meals and assisted airsick passengers.

The Trimotor helped airlines develop the passenger side of their businesses. An event in 1927 drew public attention to aviation and convinced many that the industry had a bright future. On May 21, 1927, a young American pilot named Charles Lindbergh made the first transatlantic flight from New York to Paris in a 8.5-m (28-ft) airplane named the Spirit of St. Louis. The feat catapulted Lindbergh into instant fame as a folk hero and helped attract millions of investment dollars to aviation.

B

Technological Advances

Numerous technological advances made between World War I and World War II (1939-1945) were key to the development of the air transport industry. Navigation was greatly improved in the 1920s when rotating beacons began to mark air routes for nighttime flight.

Radio, which developed around the same time as aviation, made it possible for pilots to communicate with each other and with people on the ground. By the 1930s radio signals from fixed locations were guiding pilots to their destinations in darkness and poor visibility.

Engineers also made numerous advances in aircraft design during the 1930s. Air-cooled engines helped reduce weight and made larger and faster aircraft possible. Cockpit instruments also improved, with better indicators for airspeed and rate of climb and better altimeters and compasses.

American aviator James Doolittle helped design the artificial horizon in the late 1920s. This instrument shows pilots the angle the aircraft’s wings make with the ground and is important for flying in reduced visibility.

In the 1920s engineers developed aircraft that resembled today’s modern planes. These airplanes were all metal with one wing on each side of the plane, an engine on each wing’s leading edge, retractable landing gears, wing flaps to control speed, propellers with variable angles to increase climbing and cruising speeds, and enclosed cabins for the crew and passengers. One important aircraft developed at this time was the Boeing Company’s 247, which was widely used as a passenger aircraft into the 1940s.

Another important aircraft was the Douglas Aircraft Company’s DC-1, designed so the exterior surface of the plane bore most of the stress during flight, eliminating the need for an interior skeleton of metal spars, which took up space. A similar aircraft, the DC-3, proved even more popular with travelers and was the first plane that enabled airlines to make money carrying passengers rather than mail. It seated 21 passengers, more than any previous aircraft, and its 1,000-horsepower engines made it possible to travel coast to coast in the United States in 16 hours, considered a fast trip in the mid-1930s.

The Boeing Stratoliner, introduced in 1940, was the first aircraft to have a pressurized cabin, an innovation that enabled airlines to fly in the thin atmosphere above storms and air turbulence that frequently gave passengers upset stomachs and deterred many people from flying.