Airmail service

The U.S. Army was not very enthused with new flying machines. Army brass declined supporting the Wright Brothers even after they scored a non-stop coast-to-coast flight in an early biplane. One section of the Army, however, was intrigued by the airplane: the Post Office Department believed the transport of packages through the air could be a workable service, beginning early trial runs between several cities in New York state and public demonstrations all over the country. Those experiments proved a success, convincing Congress to allocate $50,000 from steamship service for further development of airmail.

On this day, May 15, in 1918, the first commercial airmail service began between Washington, D.C. and New York. The planes used were the same Curtiss Jenny biplanes used several years earlier in the hunt in Mexico for Pancho Villa.

Airmail postage was set at 24 cents – equal around $3.50 today – considerably more expensive than regular mail, which made people reluctant to use use. Only when coast-to-coast service was established, allowing the delivery of a parcel from New York to San Francisco within 24 hours, did airmail truly take off.