American was known as American Airways prior to the suspension of all commercial air mail, in favor of the military, by the U.S. postmaster. This disaster resulted in many crashes and deaths. It lasted but a few months but with the proviso that airlines who had contracts before couldn't reapply. The loophole was that a simple name change and re-incorporation did the trick, thus American Airways became American Airlines. The backbone of the fleet at the time, The Ford Tri-Motor is featured on the cover. Special Thanks to: Chris Cummings