Transportation of Mail

Transportation of Mail postal rules and regulations Sec. 405. (a) The Postmaster General is authorized to make such rules and regulations, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, or any order, rule, or regulation made by the Board thereunder, as may be necessary for the safe and expeditious carriage of mail by aircraft. mail schedules (b) Each air carrier shall, from time to time, file with the Board and the Postmaster General a statement showing the points between which such air carrier is authorized to engage in air transportation, and all schedules, and all changes therein, of aircraft regularly operated by the carrier between such points, setting forth in respect of each such schedule the points served thereby and the time of arrival and departure at each such point. The Postmaster General may designate any such schedule for the transportation of mail between the points between which the air carrier is authorized by its certificate to transport mail, and may, by order, require the air carrier to establish additional schedules for the transportation of mail between such points. No change shall be made in any schedules designated or ordered to be established by the Postmaster General except upon ten days’ notice thereof filed as herein provided. The Postmaster General may by order disapprove any such change or alter, amend, or modify any such schedule or change. No order of the Postmaster General under this subsection shall become effective until ten days after its issuance. Any person who would be aggrieved by any such order of the Postmaster General under this subsection may, before the expiration of such ten-day period, apply to the Board, under such regulations as it may prescribe, for a review of such order. The Board may review, and, if the public convenience and necessity so require, amend, 72 Stat. 761revise, suspend, or cancel such order; and, pending such review and the determination thereof, may postpone the effective date of such order. The Board shall give preference to proceedings under this subsection over all proceedings pending before it. No air carrier shall transport mail in accordance with any schedule other than a schedule designated or ordered to be established under this subsection for the transportation of mail. maximum mail load (c) The Board may fix the maximum mail load for any schedule or for any aircraft or any type of aircraft; but, in the event that mail in excess of the maximum load is tendered by the Postmaster General for transportation by any air carrier in accordance with any schedule designated or ordered to be established by the Postmaster General under subsection (b) of this section for the transportation of mail, such air carrier shall, to the extent such air carrier is reasonably able as determined by the Board, furnish facilities sufficient to transport, and shall transport, such mail as nearly in accordance with such schedule as the Board shall determine to be possible. tender of mail (d) From and after the issuance of any certificate authorizing the transportation of mail by aircraft, the Postmaster General shall tender mail to the holder thereof, to the extent required by the Postal Service, for transportation between the points named in such certificate for the transportation of mail, and such mail shall be transported by the air carrier holding such certificate in accordance with such rules, regulations, and requirements as may be promulgated by the Postmaster General under this section. foreign postal arrangement (e) (1) Nothing in this Act shall be deemed to abrogate or affect any arrangement made by the United States with the postal administration of any foreign country with respect to transportation of mail by aircraft, or to impair the authority of the Postmaster General to enter into any such arrangement with the postal administration of any foreign country. (2) The Postmaster General may, in any case where service may be necessary by a person not a citizen of the United States who may not be obligated to transport the mail for a foreign country, make arrangements, without advertising, with such person for transporting mail by aircraft to or within any foreign country. transportation of foreign mail (f) (1) Any air carrier holding a certificate to engage in foreign air transportation and transporting mails of foreign countries shall transport such mails subject to control and regulation by the United States. The Postmaster General shall from time to time fix the rates of compensation that shall be charged the respective foreign countries for the transportation of their mails by such air carriers, and such rates shall be put into effect by the Postmaster General in accordance with the provisions of the postal convention regulating the postal relations between the United States and the respective foreign countries, or as provided hereinafter in this subsection. In any case where the Postmaster General deems such action to be in the public interest, he may approve rates provided in arrangements 72 Stat. 762between any such air carrier and any foreign country covering the transportation of mails of such country, under which mails of such country have been carried on scheduled operations prior to January 1, 1938, or in extensions or modifications of such arrangements, and may permit any such air carrier to enter into arrangements with any foreign country for the transportation of its mails at rates fixed by the Postmaster General in advance of the making of any such arrangement. The Postmaster General may authorize any such air carrier, under such limitations as the Postmaster General may prescribe, to change the rates to be charged any foreign country for the transportation of its mails by such air carrier within that country or between that country and another foreign country. (2) In any case where such air carrier has an arrangement with any foreign country for transporting its mails, made or approved in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection, it shall collect its compensation from the foreign country under its arrangement, and in case of the absence of any arrangement between the air carrier and the foreign country consistent with this subsection, the collections made from the foreign country by the United States shall be for the account of such air carrier: Provided, That no such air carrier shall be entitled to receive compensation both from such foreign country and from the United States in respect of the transportation of the same mail or the same mails of foreign countries. evidence of performance of mail service (g) Air carriers transporting or handling United States mail shall submit, under signature of a duly authorized official, when and in such form as may be required by the Postmaster General, evidence of the performance of mail service; and air carriers transporting or handling mails of foreign countries shall submit, under signature of a duly authorized official, when and in such form as may be required by the Postmaster General, evidence of the amount of such mails transported or handled, and the compensation payable and received therefor. emergency mail service (h) In the event of emergency caused by flood, fire, or other calamitous visitation, the Postmaster General is authorized to contract, without advertising, for the transportation by aircraft of any or all classes of mail to or from localities affected by such calamity, where available facilities of persons authorized to transport mail to or from such localities are inadequate to meet the requirements of the Postal Service during such emergency. Such contracts may be only for such periods as may be necessitated, for the maintenance of mail service, by the inadequacy of such other facilities. No operation pursuant to any such contract, for such period, shall be air transportation within the purview of this Act. Payment of compensation for service performed under such contracts shall be made, at rates provided in such contracts, from appropriations for the transportation of mail by the means normally used for transporting the mail transported under such contracts. experimental airmail service (i) Nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to repeal in whole or in part the provisions of section 6 of the Act entitled “An Act to provide for experimental airmail service, to further develop safety, efficiency, economy, and for other purposes”, approved April 15, 1938, as amended. The transportation of mail under contracts entered into under such section shall not, except for sections 401 (k) and 72 Stat. 763416 (b), be deemed to be “air transportation” as used in this Act, and the rates of compensation for such transportation of mail shall not be fixed under this Act. free travel for postal employees (j) Every air carrier carrying the mails shall carry on any plane that it operates and without charge therefor, the persons in charge of the mails when on duty, and such duly accredited agents and officers of the Post Office Department, and post office inspectors, while traveling on official business relating to the transportation of mail by aircraft, as the Board may by regulation prescribe, upon the exhibition of their credentials.