Ford Air Transport Service

Last updated
Ford Air Transport Service
Founded1925
Commenced operations1925
Ceased operations1932
Hubs Detroit, Michigan
Fleet size5
Destinations3
Parent company Ford Motor Company
Headquarters Detroit, Michigan
Key people Henry Ford, Edsel Ford

Ford Air Transport Service is a defunct airline based in United States of America. The airline was also registered as Ford Air Freight Lines.

Contents

History

Henry Ford initiated Ford Air Transport Service—the world's first regularly scheduled commercial cargo airline—in 1925. [1]

Letter from first CAM flight in a 2-AT CAM 6 First Flight Feb. 15, 1926.jpg
Letter from first CAM flight in a 2-AT

Ford Air Transport Service started with Stout 2-AT Pullman aircraft in 1925. Henry and Edsel Ford had an investment in Stout Engineering that became the Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company later that year in August. The first 2-AT was built at the Stout factory in Dearborn and called the "Maiden Detroit". [2] The other aircraft in the fleet were also 2-AT's, named "Maiden Dearbon I, II, III and IV". Initially the aircraft were for Ford's company use.[ citation needed ] The airline's first scheduled commercial flights in America were begun when The "Maiden Dearborn" flew 1,000 lbs. of freight between factories in Detroit and Chicago on April 13, 1925. [3] Ford Air Transport served routes between Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland. [4] The airline logged over 1000 scheduled flights in its first year.[ citation needed ]

The aircraft operated out of Ford Airport off of two grass runways with night lighting.[ citation needed ]

The safety and predicability of the first cargo flights were used to advantage in securing the first airmail contracts under the Kelly Act. The "Madien Detroit" entered Contract Air Mail service on February 15, 1926 with Henry and Edsel Ford loading the first bag of mail.[ citation needed ] The aircraft flew from Detroit to Cleveland under fighter escort to become the first commercial transport of air mail. L.G. "Larry" Fritz piloted the aircraft with Ford and Stout as passengers for the one-hour-seventeen-minute flight. [5] [6] [7] [8] The routes would be known as CAM-6 (Detroit to Cleveland), and CAM-7 (Detroit to Chicago).[ citation needed ]

In 1928 Ford sold the airmail routes to Stout who also was operating his own airline with Stout-Ford built aircraft. [9] The last official flight was in 1932. [10]

Most of the 2-AT's eventually were sold to Florida Airways, the forerunner of Eastern Airlines. [11]

Destinations

Fleet

The Ford Air Transport Service fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Ford Air Transport Service Airlines Fleet
AircraftTotalRoutesNotes
Stout 2-AT Pullman 5Detroit-Chicago, Detroit-Cleveland
4-AT-01 1Crashed May 12, 1928

Accidents and incidents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Wayne International Airport</span> Airport in Fort Wayne, Indiana, US

Fort Wayne International Airport lies eight miles southwest of Fort Wayne, in Allen County, Indiana, United States. It is owned by the Fort Wayne-Allen County Airport Authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford Trimotor</span> American three-engined transport aircraft

The Ford Trimotor is an American three-engined transport aircraft. Production started in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and ended on June 7, 1933, after 199 had been made. It was designed for the civil aviation market, but also saw service with military units.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Varney Air Lines</span> American domestic airline based in Boise, Idaho (1926-34)

Varney Air Lines was an American airline company that started service on April 6, 1926, as an airmail carrier. Formed by Walter Varney, the airline was based in Boise, Idaho, United States. The airline is one of the predecessors of United Airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ford National Reliability Air Tour</span>

The Ford Reliability Tour, properly called "The National Air Tour for the Edsel B. Ford Reliability Trophy", was a series of aerial tours sponsored in part by Ford from 1925 to 1931 and re-created in 2003. Top prize was the Edsel Ford Reliability Trophy. Henry and Edsel Ford were shareholders in the Stout Engineering Company. In August 1925, they purchased the entire company, making it the Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company. Their product, the Stout 2-AT Pullman, was a featured plane. The plane was also used by their new airline the Ford Air Transport Service, which started regular flights in April. The flights out of Ford Airport (Dearborn) cross-marketed, and showcased Ford's new interest in aviation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air cargo</span> Any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft

Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Combi aircraft</span> Aircraft that can carry passengers and/or cargo

Combi aircraft in commercial aviation are aircraft that can be used to carry either passengers as an airliner, or cargo as a freighter, and may have a partition in the aircraft cabin to allow both uses at the same time in a mixed passenger/freight combination. The name combi comes from the word combination. The concept originated in railroading with the combine car, a passenger car that contains a separate compartment for mail or baggage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Titan Airways</span> British charter airline

Titan Airways Limited, incorporated in England and Wales under company registration number 02212225 on 20 January 1988, is a private limited company in the United Kingdom (UK), which operates a British charter airline known as Titan Airways, based at London Stansted Airport (STN). The carrier specialises in short-notice ACMI and wet lease operations, as well as ad-hoc passenger and cargo charter services to tour operators, corporations, governments, and the sports and entertainment sectors. The company holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, permitting it to carry passengers, cargo and mail, on aircraft with 20 or more seats. Its headquarters and registered office is at Enterprise House, Bassingbourn Road, Stansted Airport, Stansted, Essex, CM24 1RN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Bushnell Stout</span> American inventor, engineer, and designer

William Bushnell Stout was a pioneering American inventor, engineer, developer and designer whose works in the automotive and aviation fields were groundbreaking. Known by the nickname "Bill", Stout designed an aircraft that eventually became the Ford Trimotor and was an executive at the Ford Motor Company.

Ford Airport in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, was one of the first modern airports in the world. It operated from 1924 to 1947. The site is now part of Ford Motor Company's Dearborn Proving Ground. The airport was about 360 acres (150 ha) in size.

National Air Transport was a large United States airline; in 1930 it was bought by Boeing. The Air Mail Act of 1934 prohibited airlines and manufacturers from being under the same corporate umbrella, so Boeing split into three smaller companies, one of which is United Airlines, which included what had been National Air Transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States airmail service</span>

United States airmail was a service class of the United States Post Office Department (USPOD) and its successor United States Postal Service (USPS) delivering air mail by aircraft flown within the United States and its possessions and territories. Letters and parcels intended for air mail service were marked as "Via Air Mail", appropriately franked, and assigned to any then existing class or sub-class of the Air Mail service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curtiss Carrier Pigeon</span> Type of aircraft

The Curtiss Carrier Pigeon was an American mail plane of the 1920s. A single-engined biplane designed and built to replace World War I surplus aircraft such as the DH-4, the Carrier Pigeon was one of the first aircraft designed specifically for U.S. Airmail service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skycraft Air Transport</span> Former Canadian airline

Skycraft Air Transport Inc. was a Canadian airline based at Oshawa Municipal Airport in Oshawa, Ontario, that operated between 1979 and 1994.

The United States has an extensive air transportation network. In 2013, there were 86 airports in the U.S. that annually handled over 1,000,000 passengers each. The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned. The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based; American Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by US Airways. Of the world's 50 busiest passenger airports, 16 are in the United States, including the top five and the busiest, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport. In terms of cargo, in 2015, eight of the world's thirty busiest airports were in the U.S., including the world's second-busiest, Memphis International Airport, just behind Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong. Private aircraft are also used for medical emergencies, government agencies, large businesses, and individuals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stout Metal Airplane</span> American aircraft manufacturer

Stout Metal Airplane Division of the Ford Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer founded by William Bushnell Stout as the Stout Metal Airplane Co. in 1922. The company was purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1924 and later produced the Ford Trimotor. At the height of the Great Depression, Ford closed the aircraft design and production division in 1936, temporarily re-entering the aviation market with the production of the B-24, at the Willow Run aircraft factory during World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stout 2-AT Pullman</span> Type of aircraft

The Stout 2-AT Pullman, or "Air Pullman", was a single engine all-metal monoplane that was used for early airline travel and air mail transport in America.

Stout Air Services was an airline based in the United States. Stout Air Services was the first regularly scheduled passenger airline in America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florida Airways</span>

Florida Airways was an American airline. Founded in part by Eddie Rickenbacker and based in the state of Florida, the airline served the southeastern United States during the mid-1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George H. Prudden</span> American aircraft engineer

George Henry Prudden, Jr. was an American aircraft engineer. He was instrumental in designing the first all metal aircraft in America. He was president of the Early Birds of Aviation in 1961.

Clifford Ball was an American farmer, soldier, bookkeeper, clerk, automobile dealer, airplane dealer, airline owner, airline operator, airline executive, radio manufacturer, Civil Air Patrol officer and chaplain, and aviation pioneer.

References

  1. "Henry Ford, Ford Motor Company Founder And Aviation Pioneer". Archived from the original on 2010-10-21. Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  2. "Fords Will Transfer Freight by Airplane". The Washington Post. 12 April 1925.
  3. "AIR EXPRESS LINE OPENS Success Scored by Ford Plane Regular Service Connecting Chicago and Detroit is Inaugurated Half-Ton of Freight Carried Between Cities in Less Than Three Hours". Los Angeles Times. April 14, 1925.
  4. Robert M. Kane (1975). Air Transportation . ISBN   9780840301703.
  5. Ed Betts (Summer 1997). "Maddux Air Lines 1927–1929". AAHS Journal.
  6. F. Robert Van der Linden (2002). Airlines and air mail the post office and the birth of the commercial . ISBN   9780813122199.
  7. Owen Bombard. The Tin Goose.
  8. Russ Banham. The Ford century Ford Motor Company and the innovations that shaped the world.
  9. "Air cargo's foundation".
  10. "Ford Airport". Archived from the original on 2010-09-25.
  11. Douglas J. Ingells with Ralph Dietrick. Tin Goose, The Fabulous Ford Trimotor.
  12. 1 2 AAHS Journal. 39. American Aviation Historical Society.{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. William T. Larkins. The Ford Tri-Motor 1926–1992.