St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line

SPT Airboat Line
IATA ICAO Callsign
- - -
Founded 1913
Commenced operations 1 January 1914
Fleet size 2
Destinations St. Petersburg, Tampa
Company slogan we are not an airline without you
Headquarters Tampa, Florida
Key people Thomas W. Benoist
The Benoist XIV being launched into Tampa Bay by the SPT Airboat Line

The St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line (SPT Airboat Line) was the first scheduled airline using a winged aircraft.[1] The airline provided service between St. Petersburg and neighboring Tampa across Tampa Bay.

Overview

P. E. Fansler [2] brought in Thomas W. Benoist to start a service using his new airboats to create a service to connect the two cities that were a day's travel apart in 1913 (2 hours by boat, 20 hours by car, 4 to 12 hours by train)[3] A 3-month contract was signed with the St.Petersburg board of trade on the 10th anniversary of the Kitty Hawk flight on 17 December 1913, according to which the Board of Trade agreed to guarantee meeting the expenses of the airline should it not break even.[4][5] The hangars promised for the airline were not completed, and the freight train holding the green and yellow "Lark of Duluth" was unaccounted for several days leading up to the launch date.[6]

On January 1, 1914 the SPT Airboat Line became the world's first scheduled winged airline service. That same day, Antony H. Jannus piloted the airline's Benoist Type XIV on its maiden flight between St. Petersburg and Tampa.[7] Due to widespread media coverage by the St. Petersburg Times, there were reportedly over 3,000 spectators at a parade accompanied by an Italian band at the departure point. An auction was then conducted for the first round-trip ticket. It was won with a final bid of $400 by the former mayor of St. Petersburg, Abram C. Pheil. Pheil then boarded the wooden, open-air craft for the 23-minute flight[8] that rarely exceeded an altitude of 5 feet (1.5 m) above the water of Tampa Bay.[9] Two additional Benoist air boats were added to the fleet soon after. One was used to ferry passengers and the second was used to train pilots.[10] Ticket prices were $5 per flight (one-way).[11] The first air-cargo was a bundle of St. Petersburg Times newspapers. Freight rates were $5 per 100 pounds.[11]

The airline continued to make flights until May 5, 1914, five weeks after contract termination.[12] From start to finish, the airline covered over 7,000 miles, 172 flights, and 1,205 passengers.[1]

Commenting on the significance of the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat line, Thomas Benoist, the builder of the Benoist airboats, said, "Some day people will be crossing oceans on airliners like they do on steamships today." The airline served as a prototype for today's global airline industry.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 http://www.historynet.com/st-petersburgtampa-airboat-line-worlds-first-scheduled-airline-using-winged-aircraft.htm/4
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Vittorio Sabadin (January 25, 2014). "Il secolo scomodo delle linee aeree". La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  4. ↑ White, Gay Blair (1984). The World's First Airline. Largo, Florida: Aero Medical Consultants, Inc. p. 8. ISBN 0-912522-74-7.
  5. ↑ Michaels, Will (2012). The Making of St. Petersburg. Charleston: History Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-1-60949-833-7.
  6. ↑ Thomas Reilly. Jannus, an American flier.
  7. ↑ http://www.historynet.com/st-petersburgtampa-airboat-line-worlds-first-scheduled-airline-using-winged-aircraft.htm
  8. ↑ Davies, R.E.G. (1972). Airlines of the United States Since 1914. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 2. ISBN 0-87474-381-8.
  9. ↑ http://www.historynet.com/st-petersburgtampa-airboat-line-worlds-first-scheduled-airline-using-winged-aircraft.htm/3
  10. ↑ Reilly, Thomas (1997). Jannus: An American Flyer. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. p. 150. ISBN 0-8130-1544-8.
  11. 1 2 White, Gay Blair (1984). The World's First Airline. Largo, Florida: Aero Medical Consultants, Inc. p. 27. ISBN 0-912522-74-7.
  12. ↑ http://www.historynet.com/st-petersburgtampa-airboat-line-worlds-first-scheduled-airline-using-winged-aircraft.htm/5
  13. ↑ Michaels, Will (2012). The Making of St. Petersburg. Charleston: History Press. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-60949-833-7.
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