World’s First Commercial Airline | The Greatest Moments in Flight
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World’s First Commercial Airline | The Greatest Moments in Flight
By Tim Sharp, Reference Editor |
July 19, pm ET
The first flight of a commercial airline was in a Benoist airboat piloted by Tony Jannus.
Credit: University of South Florida
This is part of
series of articles on the Greatest Moments in Flight, the breakthrough events that paved the way for human spaceflight and its next steps: asteroid mining and bases on the moon and Mars.
On Jan. 1, 1914, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line became the world's first scheduled passenger airline service, operating between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Fla. It was a short-lived endeavor && only four months & but it paved the way for today's daily .
The first flight's pilot was Tony Jannus, an experienced test pilot and barnstormer. The first paying passenger was Abram C. Pheil, former mayor of St. Petersburg. Their 21-mile (34-kilometer) flight across the bay to Tampa took 23 minutes. They flew in a &flying boat& designed by
(pronounced Ben-Wah), an aviation entrepreneur from St. Louis.
Sponsored message:
A real commercial airline
Percival Elliott Fansler, a Florida sales representative for a manufacturer of diesel engines for boats, became fascinated with Benoist's progress in designing aircraft that could take off and land in the water. The two men started corresponding and eventually Fansler proposed &a real commercial line from somewhere to somewhere else.& He proposed that the airline fly between St. Petersburg and Tampa.
In 1913, a trip between the two cities, sitting on opposite sides of Tampa Bay, took two hours by steamship or from 4 to 12 hours by rail. Traveling by automobile around the bay took about 20 hours. A flight would take about 20 minutes.
Fansler tried to interest Tampa officials in the venture, but they turned him down. He got a better reception in St. Petersburg, enticing several investors. Benoist arrived in St. Petersburg on Dec. 12, 1913, followed by his hand-picked pilot, Tony Jannus. &&&&&&
Tony Jannus, pilot of the world's first airline.
Credit: City of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Daring young man
Jannus was already a . His dark, handsome looks and daring exploits made him the epitome of the romantic flyer. Jannus gave flying exhibitions, tested military planes, and flew long-distance airplanes and airboats. He piloted the first tests of airborne machine guns. On March 1, 1912, he carried Capt. Albert Berry aloft to make the first parachute jump from an airplane. By 1913, at 24, he had become one of the principal stockholders in the Benoist Aircraft Company.
Flying boats
A Model 14 Benoist airboat was shipped to St. Petersburg by train. It weighed 1,250 pounds (567 kilograms), was 26 feet (8 meters) long and had a wingspan of 44 feet (13 m). It was powered by a Roberts 6-cylinder, in-line, liquid-cooled, 75-horsepower engine. The airplane had a top speed of 64 mph (103 k/h). The hull was made of three layers of spruce with fabric between each layer. The wings were made of spruce spars with linen stretched over them. The plane was built to hold only a pilot and one passenger side-by-side on a single wooden seat.
Percival Elliott Fansler, Abram C. Pheil, and Tony Jannus pose before the inaugural flight of the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line & the world's first airline.
Credit: City of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Inaugural flight
The first flight went off on New Year's Day, 1914, with much pomp and circumstance. About 3,000 people paraded from downtown St. Petersburg to the waterfront to watch as the first ticket was auctioned off. Pheil, now in the warehouse business, won with a bid of $400.
Just before 10 a.m., after several speeches and many photographs, Jannus and Pheil squeezed into the small wooden seat. As they took off, Jannus waved to the cheering crowd.
He flew the plane no higher than 50 feet (15.2 m) over the water. Halfway to Tampa, the engine misfired, and he touched down in the bay, made adjustments and took off again. As the plane landed at the entrance of the Hillsborough River near downtown Tampa, Jannus and Pheil were swarmed by a cheering, clapping, and waving crowd of about 3,500.&
Pheil went about his business and placed an order of several thousand dollars for his wholesale company. At 11 a.m., Jannus and Pheil flew back to St. Petersburg. The entire trip had taken less than an hour and a half.
More than 1,200 passengers
The airline made two flights daily, six days a week. The regular fare was $5 per person and $5 per 100 pounds of freight. Tickets sold out for 16 weeks in advance. A second Benoist airboat was added, and flights were extended to Sarasota, Bradenton and Manatee. Tony Jannus' brother, Roger, was the second pilot.
The airline operated for nearly four months, carrying a total of 1,205 passengers. Passenger interest declined rapidly when the winter residents began heading back north. On April 27, Tony and Roger Jannus flew their last flight before leaving Florida, putting on an air show over Tampa Bay.
The brothers continued to give exhibitions, perform tests of aircraft, and train other pilots. On Oct. 12, 1916, Tony Jannus was training Russian pilots when his plane crashed into the Black Sea. His body was never recovered.
Roger Jannus also died while flying. He crashed on Sept. 4, 1918, during air patrols over France.
& Tim Sharp, Reference Editor
The Greatest Moments in Flight
The Most Amazing Flying Machines Ever
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Author Bio
Tim Sharp, Reference Editor
Tim Sharp is the Reference Editor . He manages articles that explain scientific concepts, describe natural phenomena and define technical terms. Previously, he was a Technology Editor
and the Online Editor at the Des Moines Register. He was also a copy editor at several newspapers. Before joining Purch, Tim was a developmental editor at the Hazelden Foundation. He has a journalism degree from the University of Kansas. Follow Tim on
Tim Sharp, Reference Editor
Latest on World’s First Commercial Airline | The Greatest Moments in FlightWhy You Want to Get Bumped Off Your Next Flight (and How to Do It)
In this week’s weekly newsletter (here’s how to ), I mentioned that this past week, my wife and I went to Hawaii to take part in . We were supposed to head back to L.A. but felt four days in paradise just wasn’t enough. So we extended our stay—initially, by only two days but then my wife got sick so I changed our tickets again. To avoid astronomical fare differences, I had to give the airline seven days advance notice and I still spent almost $800 in change fees! If my wife had been feeling better, we would have gone to the airport and tried to plea with an airline representative to change our tickets for free or better yet, play the airline bumping game. This is when you volunteer to be booted off of your flight in exchange for an airline voucher that is usually enough for to cover another flight. The airline will make sure you get a seat on the next available flight so if you’ve got a bit of time to kill and don’t need to be anywhere urgently, you could stand to earn a free flight—or two—just by getting bumped. Let me explain further in this step-by-step guide on how to get bumped.
Many airlines have cut capacity, which means that most flights are operating with a full house. This increases your chances of getting bumped, especially on peak travel days like Monday, Friday, Sunday and around the holidays.
1. Check flight loads
Most airlines will allow you to see your flight’s seating chart (go into your reservation online and click the “change/view seats” link). But it’s best to try booking a ticket (don’t purchase) on your particular flight. If they aren’t selling seats then they are full or oversold. You can also call the airline directly and ask the operator if the flight is oversold. Here’s a handy list of all the .
2. Volunteer to get bumped
Airline reps love it when passengers volunteer to get bumped. When I’m playing the bumping game, I will usually check-in with an agent at the ticket desk to let them know. Then I will go to the gate and wait for an agent to arrive – usually an hour before departure. I then ask politely if they are oversold and if they need volunteers. If so, I ask to be included on the list. NOTE: Most of the time, agents won’t know if they need volunteers until midway through boarding so they will put you on a list and hold your boarding pass. Tip: Don’t keep bugging the agent … it will only tick them off and decrease your chances of getting the good stuff.
3. Wait close to the gate
Sometimes agents come to the gate late and just get on the PA and announce they are looking for volunteers. That is why you should be standing close to the desk so you can be one of the first people to jump in line if they ask.
4. Be sure to get on another flight
Before accepting a bump, first find out how mu domestically it’s usually around $400 and internationally it can be up to $1,300. Then find out when the next flight they can get you on is. If it’s an overnight bump, the airline should provide you with a hotel, transportation, meal vouchers and sometimes even a calling card, though not always.
5. Get a cash voucher not a flight
This is very important. Do not accept a roundtrip flight because they come with heavy restrictions and blackout dates. Plus, you won’t get frequent flier credit for your flight(s). Instead, ask for a cash voucher that’s usually valid for one year from the date of issue for that airline. Note: Some airlines only offer flight vouchers not cash vouchers.
Good to know: If the airline bumps you (meaning you didn’t volunteer to get bumped), be sure to ask for cash, not a voucher. This happened to my sister and her family when they were traveling from Miami to Barbados because they were the last to check in and they each received $1,300.
6. Be nice
It’s very important to be genuinely nice to the agent. I always try to make friends with them and will even bring them chocolates since most passengers treat them terribly.
7. Ask for a lounge pass, upgrade, hotel and food
If the agent is struggling to find volunteers, the money usually goes up and so do the perks. I normally won’t change my plans for anything less than $400, even if it’s a short bump. But I will always see if they can bump me into first class on the next flight or give me a premium economy seat. Before I had , I would ask for a lounge pass as well. If you don’t have one, ask for lounge access and a meal voucher (usually $10).
8. Do it all over again on the next flight
During busy periods, you can get bumped multiple times the same day or over a week. It’s a great way to get some serious money towards flights. Tip: When you get bumped, take a photo of the voucher and email it to yourself so you don’t lose it. Also, set reminders as to when they expire so you don’t lose out on your hard earned bump.
9. Don’t check luggage
You will have a much greater chance of getting bumped if you don’t have checked luggage since it’s a pain and very time consuming for the airlines to find your bag in the cargo hold.
Good to know: If you choose to volunteer and they don’t need you (they let you know at the last minute) — you may lose luggage space and sometimes agents could give away your seat and you might get stuck with a middle. Ouch!
Please let me know if you agree or disagree with these tips or if you think I missed anything.
Happy Travels!
Johnny Jet
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