Before the Federal Aviation Administration
An brief survey of the aviation administrative agencies in the United States before 1940
In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson submitted a bill to Congress which had been drafted by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics which proposed that the Commerce Department license pilots, inspect and register aircraft, and supervise the use of airfields. Congress, however, did not heed this call for action. For the next seven years the aviation community lobbied for Federal regulation; bills were introduced routinely, but with the same negative results.
Congressional reluctance to pass these measures stemmed from a controversy over aviation's status in the defense structure. By 1925, the dispute had become so serious that the War and Navy departments jointly requested President Calvin Coolidge to appoint a special board to study the whole subject of national avaition. The result was the President's Aircraft Board, chaired by Senator Dwight W. Morrow. Following its inquiry, the Morrow Board recommended the following:
The separation of military and civil aviation
The creation of a civil bureau of air navigation
The appointment of three additional assistant secretaries of War, Navy, and Commerce to supervise the government's activities in military, naval, and civil aeronautics.
In 1926 Congress finally acquiesced to pressures from various groups and passed the Air Commerce Act on May 20, 1926 which was signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge.
This legislation, which applied only to civil aviation, created the Aeronautics Branch of the Department of Commerce. It further drew on the recommendations of the Morrow Board and gave the department of commerce through the Aeronautics Branch the power to arrange for aircraft to receive certificates of airworthiness, along with registration numbers. Pilots and their crew would have to pass tests and examinations under the department's authority. The department would establish air traffic rules, produce maps and charts to provide assistance to the pilots, as well as weather reports. Investigation of accidents by the members was also a necessity under this act.
Under the leadership of now Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Aviation, William P. MacCracken, Jr., who had been a key player in the drafting and sucessful passing of the new act, the branch initially concentrated on such functions as safety rule making and the certification of pilots and aircraft.
On April 6, 1927, the first pilot license was issued in the U.S. was awarded to the Branch chief himself. Orville Wright, who should have received the honor of being the first, declined the honor as he was no longer an active pilot. Three months later, the Branch issued the first federal aircraft mechanic license.
Besides the licensing of pilots, the agency was also responsible for issuing airworthiness type certificates on all aircraft which were manufactured in the U.S. On March 29, 1927, the Aeronautics Branch issued the first of these airworthiness type certifcates to the Buhl aircraft company for the Buhl Airster CA-3, a three-place open biplane. For a complete list of the certificates issued prior to 1940, the best source is a compilation by Joseph Juptner.
The responsibility for the expansion of the lighted airways system, as well as the radio stations across the nation was transferred from the U.S. Postal Department to the Aeronautics Branch on July 1, 1927. Work on this project continued until well into the 1930's, by which time radio aids were making the airway system less necessary. For its work in this area, the Aeronautics branch received the Collier Trophy in 1929. Throughout the period, the Department of Commerce worked to improve aeronautical radio communications, and later introduced radio range beacons as an effective aid to air navigation.
In 1934, following a reorganization, the Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce to reflect its new status within the Deparment of Commerce. Under the leadership of Eugene L. Vidal, the Bureau began more agressive measures to control the ever-expanding aviation industry. As commercial flying increased, the Bureau encouraged a group of airlines to establish three centers for providing air traffic control (ATC) along the airways. In 1936, the Bureau itself took over the centers and began to expand the ATC system. The pioneer air traffic controllers used maps, blackboards, and mental calculations to ensure the safe separation of aricraft traveling along designated routes between cities.
The Civil Aeronautics Act of 1938 transferred the Federal civil aviation responsibilities from the Commerce Department to a new independent agency, the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The legislation also expanded the government's role by giving the Authority the power to regulate airline fares and to determine the routes that air carriers would serve. The act also replaced the existing air mail contracts system, which had been the product of anti-competitive practices and a major scandal in Washington, with new negotiated noncompetitive certificates.
