“Unlike the boundaries of the sea by the shorelines, the ‘ocean of air’ laps at the border of every state, city, town and home throughout the world.”
—L. Welch Pogue

America by Air traces the history of commercial aviation in the United States from airmail to airlines. Exploring the history of air transportation in the United States, this exhibit shows how the federal government has shaped the airline industry, how improvements in technology have revolutionized air travel, how the flying experience has changed, and how different airlines have fared over the course of the history of commercial aviation.

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Location in Museum

National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC
Gallery 102
Map of the first floor of the National Air and Space Museum's Washington, D.C., building, highlighting in yellow the America by Air gallery on the north side of the building, two rooms west of center
Plan Your Visit

Take a Look Inside the Gallery

A view of the America by Air gallery. Several large airplanes are suspended from the ceiling with smaller airplanes on the ground.

An overhead view of the gallery.

The exhibit America by Air as seen from the back wall. There are a row of flight attendant uniforms, a bench that shows the change is seat size over time, and the nose of a passenger airplane.

A display showing various flight attendant uniforms.

Preview the exhibit with a teaser video...

... or take a step inside!

Take a Virtual Tour of the Exhibit
Passenger Flight Air Mail

In this Exhibit

Ford 5-AT Tri-Motor

Object

Boeing 247-D

Object

Pan-Am Globe, Juan Trippe

Object

Douglas DC-3

Object

Huff-Daland Duster

Object

Fairchild FC-2

Object
See More Objects in this Exhibit
Dive Deeper into Commercial Aviation
 Early Commercial Aviation Commercial Aviation at Mid-Century The Jet Age
PSA Interior postcard

The Evolution of the Commercial Flying Experience

1914-Today

Boeing Dash 80 and Air France Concorde

The Evolution of Commercial Airliners

From the Jenny to the Concorde

Social Change in the Airline Industry Flight Attendants Air Traffic Control The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Governing Flight Pan American Airways & International Commercial Aviation The Early Airlines You Might Not Have Heard Of The First Fare Wars Airline Deregulation: When Everything Changed Women's Fashion and the Airline Industry Air Mail and the Birth of Commercial Aviation

The Museum gratefully acknowledges those who have generously supported this gallery.

American Airlines
Delta Air Lines
United Airlines

Alaska Airlines
JetBlue

Frontier Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
Spirit Airlines

Additional support provided by:

David H. Rowe / Michael Greene / AE Industrial Partners, LP

National Air Traffic Controllers Association
Airbus
 

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