The first regularly-scheduled commercial airline service was initiated with the establishment of the St. Petersburg-Tampa, Fla., Airboat Line on Dec. 17, 1913 – 10 years to the day after the Wright brothers' first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, N.C.
The first airline flight occurred on Jan. 1, 1914, when a Benoist Model 14 hydro-aeroplane "airboat," piloted by Tony Jannus, took off on the 21mi. flight from St. Petersburg yacht basin bound for Tampa's Hillsborough River. The single passenger onboard was former St. Pete Mayor, Abram C. Pheil. He became the world's first the first fare-paying rider on a scheduled airline by paying $400 for the privilege in an auction at the dockside. ($5 was the nominal fee for a one-way ticket.)
Read more about the historic event here.
Photo: Florida Memory
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