Air Mail

This passage discusses the creation of the air mail system.

Lexile Level: 550L

Categories: History Science & Technology

In the early 1900s, it took a long time to get mail from one place to another. Letters were transported across the country by train. The United States Air Mail Service began in 1918. Air mail could be delivered faster in small planes during the day. At night, the mail was transported back onto the trains. But there was one problem. The Postal Service planes were not very safe. They had an open cockpit, and the compass rarely worked. The first air mail route was easy to fly. It went from Washington, D.C. to New York City. There was plenty of flat land for emergency landings. There were landmarks to mark the path. Then the routes expanded west. Pilots had to fly over mountains in bad weather. Pilots were dying on the job each month. The United States Air Mail Service improved the workers' safety. By 1922, pilots had parachutes. The planes were improved. Not one pilot died that year.