Photograph of Second Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger

c. 1920

As second assistant postmaster general from 1915-1921, Otto Praeger was in charge of the Post Office Department's airmail service (1918-1927) during its early years. He butted heads with the service's first superintendent, Benjamin Lipsner, a fight that resulted in Lipsner's dismissal from the service. Praeger's hard line towards the pilots helped set a strike in motion in 1919 after he had ordered pilots fired for refusing to fly in zero visibility fog. The pilots won public support during the strike and most were rehired. Praeger turned his stubborn streak toward Congress, battling for financial support for the service.