All American Aviation was founded in 1937 as a patent holding company. Its sister company, Tri-State Aviation, was founded on the same date, serving as the physical operating company. Founder Lytle Schooler Adams was the first president of both companies.
Adams had started experimenting with an airmail pick-up system in 1927, developing numerous patents on the system, which he rolled into All American Aviation in 1937. Initial flights of the airline pick-up service were made by a Stinson Reliant single engine high-wing monoplane. Mail containers were suspended from ropes or cables suspended from two poles. The aircraft swooped down with a suspended hook hanging below and snagged the rope or cable.[citation needed] This was further developed in a system that could pick up personnel.
The du Pont family brothers Richard C. du Pont and Alexis Felix du Pont, Jr. bought stock in the company in 1938—on the same date as a bill was passed in Congress to enable the U.S. Post Office to start large scale experimentation on the airmail pick-up system. Through some manipulations, the du Ponts were able to acquire majority stock and voted Richard du Pont as the new president.
Actual service did not commence until 1939. The pioneering experimental airmail pickup service was built on routes radiating from a hub at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from which the airline provided service throughout the Ohio River valley.
Through the years, the company grew and the name was again changed, becoming Allegheny Airlines on January 1, 1953, USAir on October 28, 1979, and US Airways on November 12, 1996. Following its 2013 merger with American Airlines, the US Airways brand was phased out by 2016 as planes, uniforms, and other assets were steadily rebranded to American Airlines.[2]
