hundred inches in length and girth combined which are mailed at or addressed to any such Armed Forces post office where adequate surface transportation is not available. Whenever adequate service by scheduled United States air carriers is not available to provide transportation of mail matter by air in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this paragraph, the transportation of such mail matter may be authorized by aircraft other than scheduled United States air carriers. This paragraph shall not affect the operation of section 4169 (a) of this title. (6) Paragraphs (4) and (5) of this subsection shall be administered under such conditions and regulations as the Postmaster General and the Secretary of Defense severally may prescribe to carry out their respective functions under such paragraphs. (e) Air parcel post of light weight in relation to size is subject to such surcharge as the Postmaster General determines to be warranted by reason of the extra space and care required in handling and transporting it. (f) The Department of Defense shall reimburse the Post Office Department, out of any appropriations or funds available to the Department of Defense, as a necessary expense of the appropriations or funds and of the activities concerned, sums equal to the expenses incurred by the Post Oflice Department, as determined by the Postmaster General, in providing air transportation of mail between Armed Forces post offices established under section 705 (d) of this title which are not located within the fifty States of the United States, the territories and possessions of the United States in the Pacific area, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands or the Canal Zone, or between any such Armed Forces post office and the point of embarkation or debarkation within the fifty States, the territories and possessions of the United States in the Pacific area, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands or the Canal Zone. § 4304. Postage on Alaskan air mail Notwithstanding the provisions of section 4303 of this title, the Postmaster General may fix the postage at rates not exceeding 30 cents per ounce or 15 cents per one-half ounce for airmail sent to, from, or within Alaska. § 4305. Size and weight limits The maximum size and weight of domestic airmail and air parcel post is 100 inches in length and girth combined and 70 pounds. AUTHORITY TO TRANSPORT MAIL [Chapter 93 of Title 39, United States Code, 74 Stat. 687] § 6101. Provisions for carrying the mail (a) The Postmaster General shall provide for the transportation of mail by land, air or water as often as he deems proper under the circumstances (1) within, among and between, the United States, its Territories, territories under trusteeship, possessions, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and Armed Forces; and (2) between the United States, its Territories, territories under trusteeship, possessions, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or its Armed Forces, and any foreign country. (b) The Postmaster General shall provide for the transportation of mail to the courthouse of every county in the United States. § 6102. Emergency mail service in Alaska The Postmaster General may provide difficult or emergency mail service in Alaska, including the establishment and equipment of relay stations, in such manner as he deems advisable, without advertising therefor, at a total annual cost not exceeding $25,000. § 6103. Transportation of mail of adjoining counties through the United States The Postmaster General, by and with the advice and consent of the President, may make arrangements to allow the mail of countries adjoining the United States to be transported over the territory of the United States from one point in that country to any other point therein, at the expense of the country to which the mail belongs, upon obtaining a like privilege for the transportation of the United States mail through the country to which the privilege is granted. The President or Congress may annul the privilege at any time. The privilege shall terminate one month succeeding the day on which notice of the act of the President or Congress is given to the chief executive or head of the post office department of the country whose privilege is to be annulled. § 6104. Mails to be carried on United States registered vessels Mail of the United States shall, insofar as practicable, be carried on vessels of United States registry between ports between which it is lawful under the navigation laws for a vessel not documented under the laws of the United States to carry merchandise. § 6105. Establishment of post roads The following are post roads— (1) the waters of the United States, during the time the mail is carried thereon; (2) railroads or parts of roads and air routes in operatior: (5) canais, during the time the mal is carried thereon; (4) public roads, high ways, and to roads during the time the mail is carried thereof; and (5) letter-carrier routes established for the collection, and delivery of mail. § 6106. Discontinuance of service or post roads The Postmaster General may discontinue service or a post zond or part thereof when I Lis opinion § 6107. (1) the postal service can safely be continned; (2) the revelnes caLnot be colected: (3) the laws cannot be maintained; or Preferred treatment of letter mail The Postmaster General may provide for the preferential treatment of first class mail, without unnecessary delay to other mall, when the quantity of mall to be transported over any route (1) seriously retards the progress or endangers the security of the mail; or (2) materially increases the cost of transportation at the ordinary rate of speed. 269-519-67- -15 TRANSPORTATION OF MAIL BY AIR [Chapter 97 of Title 39, United States Code, 74 Stat. 693, as amended by Act of September 7, 1962, 76 Stat. 442] § 6301. Rules and regulations The Postmaster General may make such rules, regulations and orders not inconsistent with sections 1301-1542 of title 49, or any order, rule, or regulation made by the Civil Aeronautics Board thereunder, as may be necessary for the safe and expeditious carriage of mail by aircraft. § 6302. Special arrangement in Alaska (a) When in the opinion of the Postmaster General the postal service requires the transportation of mail by aircraft in Alaska, and where transportation of mail by aircraft has not been authorized by the Civil Aeronautics Board under sections 1371-1386 of title 49, the Postmaster General, notwithstanding any other provision of law, after advertisement in accordance with law, may contract for the carriage of any class of mail by aircraft. The transportation of mail under contracts entered into under this section, is not, except for sections 1371(k) and 1386 (b) of title 49 and "air transportation" as that term is defined in section 1301 of title 49, and the rates of compensation therefor may not be fixed under sections 1301-1542 of title 49. The Postmaster General shall transmit a copy of each contract made pursuant to this section to the Board at the time it is let. He shall cancel such a contract upon the issuance by the Board of an authorization under sections 1371-1386 of title 49 to any air carrier to engage in the transportation of mail by aircraft between any of the points named in the contract. (6) An air carrier authorized by the Civil Aeronautics Board under sections 1371-1386 of title 49 to engage in the transportation of mail by aircraft in Alaska, may be required by the Postmaster General to transport, within the limits of the authorization, any class of mail. The Board shall determine and fix the rates of compensation to be paid for the transportation in accordance with the provisions of sections 1301-1542 of title 49. § 6303. Air star routes (a) The Postmaster General may contract for the transportation of any class of mail by aircraft upon star routes (1) whenever he finds it to be in the public interest because of the nature of the terrain or the impracticability or inadequacy of surface transportation; and (2) where the cost is reasonably compatible with the service to be performed. (b) Prior to advertising for bids for the transportation of mail by aircraft under this section, the Postmaster General shall obtain from the Civil Aeronautics Board a certification that the proposed route does not conflict with the development of air transportation as contemplated under sections 1301-1542 of title 49. Upon receipt of a request from the Postmaster General for certification, the Board shall (1) promptly publish in the Federal Register and send to such persons as the Board by regulation determines, a notice describing the proposed air star route; (2) thereafter afford interested persons a reasonable opportunity to submit written data, views, or arguments with or without the opportunity to present them orally; (3) consider all relevant matter presented; and (4) grant, not less than thirty days after notice, the requested certification upon finding that the proposed route does not conflict with the development of air transportation as contemplated under sections 1301-1542 of title 49. The Board may grant the requested certification upon less notice if it for good cause finds that thirty days advance notice is impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and incorporates this finding and a brief statement of the reasons therefor in its order granting the certification. (c) The Postmaster General may not consider a bid for a contract under this section unless the bidder is a resident of or qualified to do business as a common carrier in a State within which one or more points to be served under the proposed contract are located. As used in this subsection, "State" includes the District of Columbia. (d) The Postmaster General shall cancel a contract made under this section upon the issuance by the Board of an authorization under sections 1371-1386 of title 49 to an air carrier to engage in the transportation of mail by aircraft between any of the points named in the contract. (e) All laws and regulations governing star routes not in conflict with this section are applicable to contracts made under the authority of this section. (f) Sections 1371-1376, 1380, 1381, and 1385 of title 49 do not apply to the transportation of mail under this section. § 6304. Fines on aircraft carriers transporting the mails The Postmaster General may impose or remit fines on contractors or carriers transporting mail by air on routes extending beyond the borders of the United States for (1) unreasonable or unnecessary delay to mail; and (2) other delinquencies in the transportation of the mail. § 6305. Airmail Flyer's Medal of Honor The President may present, but not in the name of Congress, an Airmail Flyer's Medal of Honor, of appropriate design, with accompanying ribbon, to any person who, while serving as a pilot in the airmail service distinguished himself by heroism or extraordinary achievement. The President may not award more than one medal to any one person, but for each additional act or achievement sufficient to justify the award of a medal he may award a bar or other suitable device to be worn as he directs. If the individual who distinguished himself dies before the award is made, the President may present the medal, bar, or other device, to such representative of the deceased as the President designates. A medal, bar, or other device may not be awarded or presented to an individual whose entire service subsequent to the time he distinguished himself has not been honorable. |