This is a list of air cargo, airmail and airlift related events as well as a summary for the decade 1930–1939.
Overview Civil developments
Major network carriers (Imperial Airways in the UK, Pan Am in the Americas) were actively expanding long-range routes and flying-boat operations around 1930–1931. These expansions increased the volume and geographical reach of airmail and small-parcel freight.
Also in this decade, experiment with sending mail by rocket took place in various forms in various countries.
By 1930 worldwide domestic airmail contracts formed a large share of early airline income (in many markets the airmail contract business model was stabilising airlines and incentivising larger transport types). This economic dependence on mail contracts was central to how air cargo/logistics developed in the inter-war years.
In the United States alone, the total commercial air cargo volume had surpassed 4 million pounds (1.8 million kilograms) a year by 1931. By 1931, approximately 85 percent of U.S. airline revenue derived from domestic airmail contracts, while passenger services accounted for about 14.8 percent and freight operations contributed only 0.2 percent. The Contract Air Mail (CAM) routes established by the U.S. Post Office were therefore critical to the early viability of commercial aviation in the United States; without this postal support structure, the sector's development would have been significantly constrained. The 'Air Mail scandal' of 1933/1934 reshaped the structure of the U.S. airline industry by breaking up monopolistic holdings, shifting emphasis away from mail-dependency toward diversified passenger/cargo services, and triggering modernization in both commercial aviation and military air transport.
Military developments Following the now successfully developed parachute, in the early 1930s, Russia led the way in experimenting with mass drops of armed soldiers. Japan, Germany and Italy, and later also the U.S., France and Great Britain followed and pioneered with their own airborne forces.
The United States, as the first country to do so in the world, from 1931 started to centrally organize their military air freight activities in the United States Army Air Corps.
In Europe, by the mid-1930s the growth of Germany's Luftwaffe and concurrent aircraft production (notably the Junkers Ju 52 transport), enabled early execution of large scale military transport in the Spanish airlift of 1936, assisted by the Italian air force, signalling the development of air mobility and logistical capabilities that later became central to large-scale offensive airborne and transport operations in World War II.
Events
1930
May 12–13 – (France / South Atlantic) The world's first nonstop commercial flight across the South Atlantic Ocean by the French pilot Jean Mermoz, flying for Aéropostale from Dakar, Senegal, to Natal, Brazil in the float-equipped Latécoère 28-3 mail plane Comte de la Vaulx. The flight takes 19 hours 35 minutes, and the plane carries of mail.Mondey, David, ed., The Complete Illustrated History of the Worlds Aircraft, Secaucus, New Jersey: Chartwell Books, Inc., 1978, , p. 34. On the return flight, Mermoz is forced to ditch Comte de la Vaux at sea; although he, his two companions, and the mail are saved, the aircraft sinks and is lost. June 13 – (France / Andes) Making his 92nd crossing of the Andes carrying mail between Argentina and Chile for Aéropostale, French aviator Henri Guillaumet crashes his Potez 25 in bad weather at Laguna del Diamante near Mendoza, Argentina. He walks through three mountain passes before reaching a village and safety on June 19. October 9–10 – (Canada / North Atlantic) First flight from North America (Harbour Grace, NL) to England by a Canadian pilot Capt. J. Erroll Boyd (1891–1960), in the Wright-Bellanca WB-2 Maple Leaf (aka, Columbia), navigated by the American Lieut. Harry Connor. This flight was also notable for transporting mail bearing a surcharged stamp as a commemorative overprint. October 25 – (United States) Inauguration of the final transcontinental Contract Air Mail route (CAM-34) for the United States airmail service. The coast-to-coast CAM network was completed with the launch of CAM-34 (between New York City and Los Angeles) on 25 October 1930, marking the consolidation of transcontinental airmail service under contract carriers and signalling the maturity of U.S. commercial mail routes. This completed the system of 34 CAM routes established between 1926 and 1930.
1931
Undated – (Soviet Union) After a number of experimental military mass parachute jumps starting from 2 August 1930, the regular Soviet Airborne Troops were established as early as 1931. Undated – (United States) The Army Air Corps experimented with the systematic use of air transport for distributing aviation supplies. January – (Vietnam-France) Air Orient starts a Saigon–Marseille service, first on a fortnightly basis, but from July 1 on a weekly basis. February – (France / Algeria) Flying from Oran in French Algeria, the French aviators Antoine Paillard and Louis Mailloux fly a circuit for over 50 hours in the Bernard 80 GR in an attempt to set a new unrefueled nonstop closed-circuit world distance record. They cover before higher-than-expected fuel consumption forces them to land only short of the record. February 14 – (United States) The United States Congress authorizes a new award, the Airmail Flyers' Medal of Honor, which the President of the United States is to award to pilots who perform distinguished service in connection with U.S. Air Mail service.Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: Medal, Air Mail Medal of Honor It will first be awarded in December 1933.Johnson, Frederick L., "Modest Mal," Aviation History, March 2012, p. 19. February 19 – (Czechoslovakia) On its way from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies, the KLM Ooievaar aircraft made an emergency landing, after which its 227 kg of mail was transported to Vienna and forwarded to its destination by a replacement plane, the PH-AEZ Zwaluw. February 28 – (United Kingdom-Africa) Imperial Airways starts expansion into Africa beginning with a regular London-Tanganyika Territory (now Tanzania) service. April 15 – (Germany) Rocket mail experiments: near Dümmer/Osnabrück, German engineer Reinhold Tiling launched a rocket carrying ~188 postcards. April–May – (Australia – England) First experimental Australia to England return airmail by Imperial Airways (mail left Melbourne 23 Apr, routed via Darwin, Timor, Batavia, Singapore, India and on to Croydon in mid-May). August 6 – (United States) Transcontinental and Western Air inaugurates the first air cargo service in the United States with a shipment of livestock from St. Louis, Missouri, to Newark, New Jersey. November 19 – (United States) Pan Am introduced the Sikorsky S-40 "American Clipper" on its extended Latin American passenger & mail routes. The first flight being Miami-Kingston-Barranquilla). December 6 – the KLM Fokker F.VII Ooievaar that crashed in Bangkok was carrying an unusually large load of 250kg mail. 183 kg was recovered and later transported to Amsterdam by another aircraft, though two bags were lost, making the salvaged "crash mail" highly valuable to collectors nowadays. December 9 – (United Kingdom-Africa) The Imperial Airways' service for Central Africa was extended experimentally to Cape Town for the carriage of Christmas mail. The aircraft used on the last sector, DH66 G-AARY City of Karachi arrived in Cape Town on 21 December 1931.
1932
Undated – (United States) The Army Air Corps established a provisional 1st Air Transport Group with four squadrons, to each serve one of four major air depots distributing parts to Army airbases as well as between the depots. The group existed until 1937. Undated – (Austria) Rocket mail experiments: Friedrich Schmiedl launched his first Experimental Rocket 7 (V-7) with 102 pieces of mail between the Austrian towns of Schöckl and St. Radegund.F. Schmiedl, Essays on the History of Rocketry and Astronautics, NASA Converance Publication 2014, Vol.II, p 109 January 20 – (United Kingdom-Africa) Imperial Airways further expands into Africa with a regular flight to Cape Town. April 1 – (United States) Pan Am announced substantial per-pound rate reductions to stimulate freight traffic; an early, deliberate commercial move to grow air cargo demand. May 20–21 – (United States) Amelia Earhart’s solo trans-Atlantic flight, carrying 50 'unofficial' pieces of mail. Earhart became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. June 7 – (Hong Kong-Vietnam-France) Air Orient connects Hong Kong to the Saigon – Marseille service, first as a trial, but from August 3 on a regular basis. ‘Great Britain & Irish Free State’ were connected via the Paris to London Imperial Airways route. June 24 – (Soviet Union) Leningrad's Shosseynaya Airport (the future Pulkovo Airport) opens. Its first flight, an aircraft carrying passengers and mail, arrives late in the afternoon after a two-hour-and-a-half-hour flight from Moscow. September – (Bolivia / Paraguay) The Chaco War was the first South American war with extensive use of aircraft for military supply drops and direct logistical support. October 15 – (India) Tata Airlines, founded by J. R. D. Tata opens an airmail route between Karachi and Madras, the first regular air service within India and origin of Air India. October 22 – (Ireland-Germany) First Ireland to Continental European airmail connection / first Irish passenger-airmail combo service from Oranmore, Galway to Berlin flying a De Havilland Fox Moth.
1933
Undated – (United Kingdom) The concept of an Empire Air Mail Scheme emerged in 1933, proposing that all first-class correspondence within the British Empire be transported by air at a uniform rate of 1½d per half-ounce, with postcards carried for a penny. May 29 – (UK–Australia) An Imperial Airways England to Australia survey flight took off, operated by Imperial Airways Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta G-ABTL Astraea. Major H. G. Brackley, Imperial Airways' Air Superintendent, was in charge of the flight. July 1 – (Italy–United States) Start of Italo Balbo’s mass transatlantic "air armada" flying from Rome to Chicago, a high-profile demonstration flight that carried some 3500 cards and special mail/philatelic covers. The Regia Aeronautica's squadron of 24 (originally 25) Savoia-Marchetti S.55 flying-boats led by Italo Balbo arrived at Chicago's Century of Progress Exposition at July 15. The flight generated special commemorative airmail issues and massive public attention, a diplomatic/propaganda event that also highlighted long-distance airmail possibilities. (United Kingdom-Asia) Imperial Airways extended the London–Karachi route to Calcutta. August – (Japan) A night mail route started, flying a Nakajima P-1 connecting Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka. September 23 – (UK–Asia) Imperial Airways further expands into Asia with a service London to Rangoon. September 28 – Jun 12, 1934 – (United States) The 'Air Mail scandal', also known as the 'Air Mail fiasco', was a political controversy that erupted in 1934 following a congressional investigation into the awarding of airmail contracts to select airlines. The scandal intensified when the U.S. government revoked these contracts and assigned mail delivery to the largely unprepared and under-equipped U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC) per February 19, leading to disastrous consequences: 66 major accidents, ten of them with fatalities, resulted in 13 crew deaths, creating an intense public furor. December – (India) Indian National Airways starts with weekly passenger and freight services from Calcutta to Rangoon and Dhaka.Page 93-96 It later also started a weekly service between Karachi and Lahore, a feeder service for Imperial Airways. December 9 – (UK–Asia) Imperial Airways further expands into Asia with a service from London to Singapore.