The DC-3 Opens a New Era of Air Travel.

The Air Mail Act of 1925 authorized the U.S. postmaster general to contract with any individual, firm, or corporation for the carriage of mail by aircraft between points designated by the postmaster general. This legislation signaled the beginning of what would become the airline industry. The Air Mail Act’s first amendment (in 1926) changed the basis for payment to these contract mail carriers, but even with this change, which essentially amounted to subsidization, the young airlines frequently had difficulty generating a profit. The carriers came to recognize that earning additional revenue would be easier if aircraft could carry passengers in addition to mail. This demand eventually led to a larger aircraft, suitable for combined mail and passenger service. The first generation of these aircraft could accommodate from two to six passengers, but soon, larger multiengine aircraft became operational. The most popular of these were the all-metal Ford trimotor and Fokker’s wood and fabric trimotor, which used laminated plywood as the wing skin. It was this plywood wing that ultimately would lead to Donald W. Douglas’s DC series.