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aged more passengers to fly. This was one of the purposes of the Kelly Act%u2014to help the airline industry grow and become established. Eventually there were 34 CAM routes operating throughout the United States, with most having several different segments. As both Air Mail, and the airline industry%u2019s passenger service grew, reliable flights to more locales became the norm, with the entire country benefitting from the inter-connectiveness.The first two international Air Mail routes were established in 1920%u2014one from Seattle, Washington to Victoria, British Columbia, the other between Key West, Florida and Havana, Cuba. Because of their success, in the spring of 1928, Congress authorized the Postmaster General to enter into long-term contracts to fly additional international routes. That October, the first Foreign Air Mail (FAM) route began regular service between New York and Montreal. By the end of 1930, the U.S. was linked by air to nearly all countries in the Western Hemisphere. Trans-Pacific Air Mail routes started operating in 1935 to as far as the Philippines, and were soon extended to China. By mid-1939, new Trans-Atlantic routes connected the United States to most of Europe. Progress made another giant leap forward when the first jet flew mail from London to New York on October 4, 1958 in a mere 8 hours. Previously, propeller planes had required 14 hours to traverse the same route.The End of Air MailWhile Air Mail in the United States officially began on a specific date%u2014May 15, 1918%u2014its demise took a number of years. On October 10, 1975, all domestic intercity First Class Mail began to be routinely transported by air, rather than train, truck, or bus. This effectively ended Air Mail to destinations within the United States as a distinct, higher-priced service. However, it wasn%u2019t until May 1, 1977 that the U.S. Postal Service formally eliminated its domestic Air Mail classification.Then in 1995, International Air Mail was also eliminated, and the USPS announced that the words %u201cAir Mail%u201d would no longer appear on any more postage stamps. Yet, mail was still being flown outside the country%u2014using new International Rate stamps, each of which had a small silhouette of a jet airplane next to the denomination. (By this time, the words %u201cAir Mail%u201d had not appeared a U.S. stamp since July 1, 1993, on the reissue of a stamp honoring aviation pioneer William T. Piper.) The International Rate stamps with the jetairplane silhouette were the last listed as Air Mail stamps in the Scott Standard Postage Catalogue.On January 28, 2013, the USPS issued its first Global Forever stamp, which was for letters sent overseas (up to an ounce), and Canada (up to two ounces). These replaced the International Rate stamps. They had neither A New Swallow biplane with a Curtiss engine used in 1926 for an early CAM flight.