110 Years Ago, The First Commercial Airline Took Off From Florida

22.03.2024 - 01:19 / forbes.com / Sunshine State / Pan Usa / Spring Break / Airlines

Florida is the Sunshine State, a place to relax in the sun or party at Spring Break. But the state also has a surprising history of aviation firsts.

Florida is best known in aviation history as the home of Cape Canaveral, where the U.S. space program, including the iconic Apollo moon missions, was launched.

But Florida also holds the distinction of hosting the world’s first commercial airlines flight, in 1914. And in the 1920’s, the rowdy city of Key West was the birthplace of one of the world’s most renowned airlines, Pan American.

This year marks the 110th anniversary of the first commercial airline flight. On January 1, 1914, a flying boat took off St. Petersburg, Florida, in front of a cheering crowd of 3,000 and the Mayor. It safely arrived in Tampa, a journey of about 24 miles, 23 minutes later. The first flight carried a pilot and a single paying passenger.

Percival Elliot Fansler, a diesel engine salesman excited about the future of aviation, organized the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line, (SPT) along with aircraft builder Thomas Benoist and pilot Anthony (Tony) Jannus.

Tickets on the SPT were $5, the equivalent of about $150 today. The first flight was conducted on an Airboat Line Benoist Type XIV flying boat, known as Lark of Duluth.

A full-scale flying replica of the Lark of Duluth was built by the Florida Aviation Historical Society in 1984 for the 70th anniversary of the flight. The aircraft now is on display in the St. Petersburg Museum of History in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Indeed, the museum is only steps away from the Central Yacht Basin, where pilot Tony Jannus and passenger A.C. Pheil took off for Tampa and immortality.

The flight was part of a three-month contract subsidized by the city. Lark of Duluth and Florida were the two Benoist flying boats operating the service. Over the next three months, the two aircraft carried 1,205 passengers (one at a time!) and flew over 11,000 miles.

When the city subsidy ceased, the airline was no longer profitable, (a constant problem for commercial airlines) and the operation came to an end. Said Benoist, “We have not made much money, but I believe we have proved that the airplane can be successfully used as a regular means of transportation and commercial carrier.”

The Lark of Duluth was used to fly passengers at several cities around the United States It was damaged in a hard landing in an accident in San Diego and written off.

Tony Jannus continued to work as a pilot. In 1916, he was killed demonstrating another flying boat to the Russian military. Benoist died in a streetcar accident in 1917 at 43. But as he said, “Someday people will be crossing oceans on airliners like they do on steamships today.”

Another Florida institutions commemorates