Background: The Air Mail Act of 1925 (Kelly Act) authorized the postmaster general to contract for domestic airmail service with commercial air carriers. It also set airmail rates and the level of cash subsidies to be paid to companies that carried the mail. By transferring airmail operations to private companies, the government effectively would help create the commercial aviation industry. Various routes were designated and contracts for carrying the mail over these routes were then awarded to many different private air service companies. The Contract Air Mail routes became known as CAM's.

AM-52: AM-52 was awarded to Western Air Express. WAE was founded in 1925 by Harris M "Pop" Hanshue, a former race car driver. CAM-4 air service was inaugurated with both east and west flights on April 17, 1926 between Los Angeles CA and Salt Lake City UT with an interim stop in Las Vegas NV. On May 8, 1934 Western Air Express had changed its name to General Air Lines and on December 29, 1934 revereted back to its old WAE name.

CAM-4

For its short existance, GAL and later WAE used Douglas DC-3's for its passenger and mail carrying services. On April 17, 1941 Western Air Express severed all its interchange ties with United Airlines and changed its name to Western Air Lines (WAL).

WAL

Douglas DC-3

52N1 410612 Great Falls MT WAL Stanley J Cavill 3ドル.75

52N2 410612 Cut Bank MT WAL Stanley J Cavill 3ドル.00

52N3 410612 Shelby MT WAL Stanley J Cavill 3ドル.75

52S4 410612 Lethbridge Canada WAL Stanley J Cavill 15ドル.00

52S3 410612 Shelby MT WAL Stanley J Cavill 7ドル.50

52S2 410612 Cut Bank MT WAL Stanley J Cavill 3ドル.75

WAL

Douglas DC-6

52S5 590601 Calgary Canada WAL CJ Farmer 7ドル.50

WAL

Boeing 707

52N6 670701 Los Angeles CA WAL WT Homan 3ドル.00

52N6f 670701 Los Angeles CA WAL WT Homan 3ドル.00

52N7 670701 San Francisco CA WAL Alford E Austerman 3ドル.00

52N7f 670701 San Francisco CA WAL Alford E Austerman 3ドル.00

52N8 670701 Portland OR WAL RF Ellinghouse 3ドル.00

INDEX: First Flights by CAM Route #

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34