Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1929-07-09
FUTURE
OF AIR HERE
Aviation Official Tells of
Progress Made In
United States
Especial to The Herald)

0R%C
FORT WORTH, July 9.-The fu-
ture of aviation is already here!
That is how A. P. Barrett preSl-
dent Of Southern Air Transport and
its various subsidiaries, OF which
Texas Air Transport is one, answers
the reporters invitation to proph-
esq.
"People still have the habit" Mr..
Barrett said, of thinking about avn
alton entirely in terms OF the fu-
ture. Certainly it has a great 1u-
tire! But it has a great present as
we'll. Air transport is so new they
cannot realize that all OF the large
cities in the United States r al
ready linked up by air lines and
that within a few weeks all the
small cities as well will be on the
airwayS.
.STexas Air Transport began OPP
erations February 6. 1928-less than
a year and a half agol All 1t had
then were contracts to carry air
mail from Dallas and Fort Worth
through Waco, to Austin. San An
tonic, Laredo, Houston and Gal
weston.
"Since then the San Antonio air
mail line has been extended from
Laredo to Brownsville, the Gull
Coast and st. Tammany Air lines
have been acquired and air mail
service extended from Houston to
| Atlanta via New Orleans, passenger
lines have been started from Dallas
and Fort Worth to Houston ano
Galveston, to San Antonio and
Brownsville and to Ell PaSo via Big
Spring and Midland.
New Lines Planned
"In addition. various other pas
senger lines are planned. II ou1
company and most other air trans
port companies continue to grow fol
the next few years as they have
been growing for the last few weeks
it will be only a matter OF q lev
months before the entire western
hemisphere is a network Of airlineS
extending in every direction. serv-
ing small as well as large cities.
"And then it will not be but a few
more months or possibly years be-
fore instead of one Or two airplaneS
each way each day there Will be
twenty five to fifty. The sky-dinel
has already come in the east; the
sky-pullman will not lag many years
behind.
"Al first class mail will be carried
by planes. and most passengers
Only freight and passengers going
short distances will be carried by
other means Of transportation.
by that time. also, although we
are not ready for it yet, we shall
have giant air liners speeding ur
the crossing Of the various oceans.
People Awakening
"People are beginning to realize
that most of the accidents they read
Of in the papers occur in private fly
ing with obsolete equipment and in
experienced pilots or in military fly
ing in experimental maneuvers. And
with the public convinced Of the
safety Of flying, aviation is bound
to exoand, for capital has already
seen the possibilities of the speedier
mode Of travel and has poured its
resources into the new industry.
Texas Is ideally located and
blessed with a climate that will
make her nreeminent in this ex-
pansion. The ADVANTAGES of the
Texas climate for aerial activities
were first recognized during the war
when both United States and Can
ada DESIGNATED it as a training cen
ter for aviation. 1t was during that
time that the phrase, IF you can
fly anywhere, you can flv in Texas"
originated. Texas has a minimum
Of storms and of lev weather that
inhibits flving and Is consequently
an ideal state for extended opera
! tionS.