Grand West Air Mail Service Lockheed Air Express

In 1925, the United States Government passed the Air Mail Act, which sought to dismantle the monopoly that the government’s own Post Office Department held on the airmail industry. The act set a bidding period for a certain airmail routes. Among the first five airlines to win the contracts were the Tenessee Air Mail Service, American Pacific, and Grand West Air Mail.

Grand West Air Mail was incorporated in 1925 by WW1 aviator and entrepreneur William “Bill” Greenway. It won the bid for the CAM-4 Air Mail Route, which operated between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. Operations commenced in April the following year using a De Havilland DH.4, with Bill flying the route himself.

Later that year, Grand West officially requested Lockheed to build a more powerful, parasol-configuration aircraft based on the Lockheed Vega. The new aircraft, the Air Express, could seat up to 6 passengers or 1,000 pounds of mail in an enclosed cabin. Grand West only operated one of the eight built, but the aircraft’s relatively high service ceiling and more powerful engine allowed for comfortable and speedy travel over the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Grand West continued to expand through the 20’s and 30’s, picking up contracts for airmail routes across the southwest and eventually offering passenger and charter services, as well as a flight school.

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