Air Mail Scandal
Keystone B-6 twin-engine air mail plane in snow storm
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| Date | September 28, 1933 – June 12, 1934 |
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| Also known as | Air Mail Fiasco |
| Participants |
United States Senate Walter Folger Brown William P. MacCracken, Jr. U.S. domestic airline industry President Franklin D. Roosevelt Charles A. Lindbergh United States Army Air Corps Major General Benjamin Foulois |
| Outcome | 13 airmen killed in accidents Air Mail Act of 1934 enacted Modernization of the Air Corps begun |
The Air Mail scandal, also known as the Air Mail fiasco, is the name that the American press gave to the political scandal resulting from a congressional investigation of the awarding of contracts to certain airlines to carry airmail and to the use of the U.S. Army Air Corps to fly the mail by the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934.
In 1930, during the administration of President Herbert Hoover, Congress passed the Air Mail Act of 1930. Using its provisions, Postmaster General Walter Folger Brown held a meeting with the executives of the top airlines, later dubbed the "Spoils Conference", in which the airlines effectively divided among themselves the air mail routes. Acting on those agreements, Brown awarded contracts to the participants through a process that effectively prevented smaller carriers from bidding, resulting in a Senate investigation.
The Senate investigation resulted in a citation of Contempt of Congress against William P. MacCracken, Jr., on February 5, 1934, the only action taken against any former Hoover administration official for the scandal. Two days later Roosevelt cancelled all existing air mail contracts with the airlines and ordered the Air Corps to deliver the mail until new contracts could be let. The Air Corps was ill-prepared to conduct a mail operation, particularly at night, and from its outset on February 19 encountered severe winter weather. The Army Air Corps Mail Operation suffered numerous crashes and the deaths of 13 airmen, causing severe public criticism of the Roosevelt Administration.
Temporary contracts were put into effect on May 8 by the new postmaster general, James A. Farley, in a manner nearly identical to that of the "Spoils Conference" that started the scandal. Service was completely restored to the airlines by June 1, 1934. On June 12 Congress passed a new Air Mail Act cancelling the provisions of the 1930 law and enacting punitive measures against executives who were a part of the Spoils Conferences. Although a public relations nightmare for the administrations of both presidents, the scandal resulted in the restructuring of the airline industry, leading to technological improvements and a new emphasis on passenger operations, and the modernization of the Air Corps.
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