# Are US mail planes flying? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2001, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186 "2001-09-12T22:41:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/1 "2001-09-12T22:41:49Z")
I didn’t get any mail today & I was wondering if the mail planes are flying? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/2 "2001-09-12T22:57:07Z")
No, they’re grounded. USPS website has a press release. ---
**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/3 "2001-09-12T22:57:49Z")
[http://www.usps.com/news/2001/press/serviceupdates.htm](http://www.usps.com/news/2001/press/serviceupdates.htm) The planes aren’t moving, but there is an expanded ground transportation system in use. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/4 "2001-09-12T23:00:35Z")
A large percentage of US mail goes on commmercial airline flights as cargo. So when regular flights are grounded, that includes the US mail. I did see the news report that they are shipping mail cross country via truck in the interim. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/5 "2001-09-13T12:41:49Z")
All the major shippers (FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc) are using ground transportation only until further notice. They expect that, even after the FAA groundings are lifted, only passenger planes will be allowed to fly. You can probably expect shipping delays to last until next week. And once new security protocols are instituted, all shipping could be permanently delayed. ---
**Author:** ![Osakadave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f07891/32.png) [@Osakadave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Osakadave)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/6 "2001-09-13T13:27:45Z")
According to today’s paper, all mail to the US from here in Japan has been stopped - and is being returned. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/7 "2001-09-13T13:51:27Z")
There’s nothing about that on the USPS site, so I have to wonder if that’s a decision of the Japanese postal service. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/8 "2001-09-13T21:47:20Z")
I received mail both Tuesday and Wednesday. (Still too early to know today yet, but I’ve seen dozens of mail trucks out.) Lots of it too, and not just local stuff. Is my local post office just way behind on their deliveries or what? ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/9 "2001-09-13T22:01:02Z")
I hope the mail is moving; I’ve got prescriptions coming. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/10 "2001-09-14T00:29:35Z")
What about time-critical stuff, like some organ being overnighted in an ice chest to a transplant recipient? ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/11 "2001-09-14T00:32:50Z")
My understanding is that time critical things such as organs for transplants will continue to be shipped. (saw it on the TV news, so plese don’t look to me for a cite) ---
**Author:** ![funneefarmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9fc348/32.png) [@funneefarmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funneefarmer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/12 "2001-09-14T00:33:52Z")
NPR did an interview on this in thier evening news tonight. I was doing other things at the time and half listening but I thought they said that about 1/4 of the mail on a normal day went by plane. That was less than I would have thought (maybe I did mis-hear it). ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/13 "2001-09-14T02:08:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dooku \* > What about time-critical stuff, like some organ being overnighted in an ice chest to a transplant recipient? Actually, one of those was forced down today - communication mix-up. If it’s coming by air you’ll just have to be patient ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/14 "2001-09-14T02:17:51Z")
It has been already said but I’ll say again, they are not. We dopers in Hawaii are absolutely stuck for mail at the moment. Nothing gets out and nothing gets in. We’ve been warned that if we had sent out bills recently that may be stuck here we should call the people to whom they ahve been sent (like Credit Card companies) and inform them of our special situation. At the moment everything but information is weeks away. Scary considering that if the skies were to remain closed we would eventually run out of food. But things should begin to open up soon, but we’ve been warned it will take several days to catch up on the backlog. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/15 "2001-09-14T14:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osiris \* > \*\*It has been already said but I’ll say again, they are not. We dopers in Hawaii are absolutely stuck for mail at the moment. Nothing gets out and nothing gets in. \*\* Ditto here in Puerto Rico and next door at the USVI. Just yesterday the Commonwealth Government had to order an ANG C-130 to haul stateside $170-million worth of negotiable notes that _had_ to make it _physically_ to a Fed bank in order for the funds to be available. Some (most??) of the insular areas have the added burden of being under Coastwise Shipping Act, meaning our traffic to the US mainland has to be on US-flagged vessels. The US Merchant Marine not being what it once was, air carriers do A LOT of the hauling that in the continent is done by truck. At least PR/USVI can have stuff from outside the US reach the Dominican Republic, BVI or St. Martin and then be ferried in by boat, at most overnight – but HI is _days_ away from anywhere by sea… ---
**Author:** ![Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dec6dc/32.png) [@Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Friday)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/16 "2001-09-14T14:37:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guy Propski \* > \*\*All the major shippers (FedEx, UPS, USPS, etc) are using ground transportation only until further notice. They expect that, even after the FAA groundings are lifted, only passenger planes will be allowed to fly. You can probably expect shipping delays to last until next week. And once new security protocols are instituted, all shipping could be permanently delayed. \*\* Just wanted to say that I saw a FedEx plane flying here (Maryland burbs of DC) at approx. 7:30 P.M. EDT. I don’t know if it was transporting cargo or what, but at least one was up there. ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/17 "2001-09-14T14:41:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AbbySthrnAccent \* > \*\*A large percentage of US mail goes on commmercial airline flights as cargo. So when regular flights are grounded, that includes the US mail. I did see the news report that they are shipping mail cross country via truck in the interim. \*\* The interim regulations which permit commercial flights to resume flying do not allow for the carriage of cargo or mail on passenger flights. Air transport of U.S. mail remains halted for the indefinite future. FedEx says that it will resume its freight service Friday. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/18 "2001-09-14T14:53:29Z")
Lsura, I shold have known better to look at the web. Well, I better look at the Big Brother II site too, so I can see what’s up with them. Osiris, I thought most of the stuff gets to the islands by Mason shippers (e.g. boat)? Also, aren’t they doing interisland flights now? ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2001, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-us-mail-planes-flying/81186/19 "2001-09-16T22:21:54Z")
This morning at 9am the mail and freight embargo going on commercial flights was lifted. USMail, private package delivery, and commercial freight is flying commerically again.