History of the Air Cargo Industry
Aviation has been a key transportation asset since the first flight by Wilber and Orville Wright in 1903. Several major events have impacted the airline industry, more specifically the air cargo industry, since the invention of the airplane. The following events helped to shape the air cargo industry and made it what it is today.
Slick Airways and Flying Tiger Airlines After World War II (WWII), many air cargo companies started up and used retrofitted military surplus cargo aircraft to fill the need for transportation of time sensitive air cargo. Two of the first successful air freight only airlines that came into existence were Slick Aviation and Flying Tiger Airlines. Slick Aviation was founded in January …show more content…
In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act transformed the heavily regulated airline industry into a free-market, globally competitive industry. Before deregulation, the federal government ran the airline industry as if it were a public utility; they controlled how much the airlines could charge, how much profit they could make, what routes they could fly, which companies could merge or go out of business, and how many new airlines could start up and become competitors. After deregulation, the government control was phased out over a six year period and the airline industry became a free-market system where the supply and demand of customers controlled the prices, routes, and economic viability of airlines. Many aviation companies failed and many more were founded during this time (Airline Deregulation, …show more content…
Starting in November 1948 and ending in May 1949, the Soviet Union enacted shipping blockades on the Allied occupied portions of Berlin in Germany. The Allied forces, mainly the United States and Great Britain began air dropping food, fuel, clothing, and essential living supplies to over 2 million civilians who were trapped in Berlin when the Soviet Union started the cargo blockade and began controlling the city’s access. During the course of the airlift, known as Operation Vittles to the Americans and Operation Plainfare to the British, the allied forces airlifted supplies from Wiesbaden Airfield in western Germany to Tempelhof, which was the U.S. operated airfield in Berlin, Germany. A total of 277,569 air cargo flights delivered 2,325,509 tons of cargo into the city and 81,730 tons of cargo out of the city during the airlift (Miller,
Aviation has been a key transportation asset since the first flight by Wilber and Orville Wright in 1903. Several major events have impacted the airline industry, more specifically the air cargo industry, since the invention of the airplane. The following events helped to shape the air cargo industry and made it what it is today.
Slick Airways and Flying Tiger Airlines After World War II (WWII), many air cargo companies started up and used retrofitted military surplus cargo aircraft to fill the need for transportation of time sensitive air cargo. Two of the first successful air freight only airlines that came into existence were Slick Aviation and Flying Tiger Airlines. Slick Aviation was founded in January …show more content…
In 1978, the Airline Deregulation Act transformed the heavily regulated airline industry into a free-market, globally competitive industry. Before deregulation, the federal government ran the airline industry as if it were a public utility; they controlled how much the airlines could charge, how much profit they could make, what routes they could fly, which companies could merge or go out of business, and how many new airlines could start up and become competitors. After deregulation, the government control was phased out over a six year period and the airline industry became a free-market system where the supply and demand of customers controlled the prices, routes, and economic viability of airlines. Many aviation companies failed and many more were founded during this time (Airline Deregulation, …show more content…
Starting in November 1948 and ending in May 1949, the Soviet Union enacted shipping blockades on the Allied occupied portions of Berlin in Germany. The Allied forces, mainly the United States and Great Britain began air dropping food, fuel, clothing, and essential living supplies to over 2 million civilians who were trapped in Berlin when the Soviet Union started the cargo blockade and began controlling the city’s access. During the course of the airlift, known as Operation Vittles to the Americans and Operation Plainfare to the British, the allied forces airlifted supplies from Wiesbaden Airfield in western Germany to Tempelhof, which was the U.S. operated airfield in Berlin, Germany. A total of 277,569 air cargo flights delivered 2,325,509 tons of cargo into the city and 81,730 tons of cargo out of the city during the airlift (Miller,