St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line: The World’s First Airline, Part 1
On January 1, 1914, while much of Europe was embroiled in a war (it would be known as the "war to end all wars" but later renamed World War I), a small Benoist (pronounced Ben-wah or Ben-weest) Model 14 seaplane took off from St. Petersburg, Florida, and traveled 20 miles across Tampa Bay to land in Tampa, Florida. The pilot on this maiden airline voyage was Anthony Jannus. His paying passenger was the mayor of St Petersburg, Abraham C. Pheil, who bought the first airline ticket at auction for $400. (The airline donated the money to the city for the purchase of harbor lights.) The featured amenities for Mr. Pheil on that expensive flight? Fresh Florida air, breathtaking scenery, and just a little salt-spray in the face-but no in-flight movies! On the bright side, Mr. Pheil did not have to go through any checkpoints or eat airline food.
The regular fare for scheduled flights would be set at $5. Non-scheduled flights were available for $10-$20 and charters were available to Egmont Key, Pass-a-Grille, Clearwater and other nearby waterfront localities. Passengers were limited to 200 gross pounds for the standard fare, but could drag along extra poundage at a price. "Excess weight [was] charged at $5 per hundred pounds, minimum charge 25 cents," stated the handbills distributed throughout St. Petersburg and Tampa.
That first flight included a stop in Tampa Bay to repair a drive chain, which would be a recurring problem with the Benoist. The first commercial flight also had the world's first airline delay.
The fun was just beginning. Jannus and Pheil left Tampa for the return trip at 11 a.m. and arrived back in St. Petersburg before another cheering crowd. Just before the afternoon flight, a second auction was held. Noel A. Mitchell was the successful bidder for a $175 round-trip flight.
Jannus' flight records show that an additional five short flights, each about 10 minutes, were flown that day. He noted that the engine burned 13 gallons of fuel and about a gallon of lubricating oil per hour of flight.
The next day, Mrs. L.A. Whitney, wife of the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, made the flight to Tampa and back to become the first woman passenger to fly on a fixed-wing scheduled airline. (Mae Peabody of Dubuque, Iowa, was the first woman to make a local flight out of St. Petersburg.) Whitney described the flight as "the most delightful sensation imaginable--it is like being rocked to sleep in your mother's arms."
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