The PA-5 was first used by Texas Air Transport on Contract Air Mail Route 21 on November 27. 1927, only four months after the first Mailwing had been licensed by the Civil Aeronautics Administration. The plane’s reputation, however, was really established on the New York-to-Atlanta run, CAM #19, which was flown by Pitcairn Aircraft. Service began on May 1,1928. The little Pitcairns, flying by night, followed the newly lighted airways between Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, and Atlanta. The 760-mile route was flown in seven hours, just one-third the time it took by rail.