The world's first commercial airline flight using a winged aircraft occurred on January 1, 1914, when the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, operated their first seaplane flight from the St. Petersburg bayfront near present day Albert Whitted Airport, then known as Cook-Springfield tracks, to Tampa. Tampa was then a journey of 2-hours by steamboat ride, 4 to 12 hours by rail or up to 20 hours by automobile.

Percival Elliott Fansler founded the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line on December 4, 1913. He was a sales representative for a diesel engine manufacturer and he was interested in St. Louis-based aircraft manufacturer Thomas Benoist's design of amphibious aircraft so that he could start passenger service between St. Petersburg and Tampa. He signed a contract with St. Petersburg city officials (or civic boosters according to another article) on December 13, 1913, for a subsidy of $50 a day for January 1914 and $25 a day for February and March. He then signed a contract with Thomas Benoist of the Benoist Aircraft Company for one new Benoist Model 14 seaplane on December 17, 1913. Benoist shipped the disassembled aircraft by rail to the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line and it was re-assembled a day before the flight. The aircraft was 26 feet long with a wingspan of 44 feet, it weighed 1,250 pounds and had a top speed of 64 mph. The engine was a Roberts 6-cylinder in-line liquid cooled 75-hp engine. The aircraft had a single wooden seat for the pilot and one passenger.

Famous airman Tony Jannus was a principal stockholder in the Benoist aircraft company and he was selected to be the pilot. Jannus flew paying passenger Abram C. Phiel, a former mayor of St. Petersburg, who bid $400 in an auction for his trip to Tampa and back. The historic first commercial flight from this area, which was downtown waterfront at the time, was to the mouth of the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. The flight covered the 21 miles across Tampa Bay in 23 minutes with a stop in the middle of the bay to adjust the engine.

With the help of the city subsidy which was paid back after a month of operations, the airline operated a variety of daily flights carrying passengers for $5 one-way or 100 pounds of cargo for the same amount. A second Benoist Model 14 was added and Roger Jannus, brother of Tony Jannus, shared flying duties with his brother and they also made passenger flights to Sarasota, Bradenton and Manatee. By the end of March 1914 they had carried 1204 passengers without mishap and flights were only cancelled on eight days due to weather or mechanical reasons.

The airline ceased operations in April 1914 after the winter snowbirds from up north went home and passenger traffic dried up. Most of the participants in the airline venture died within years. Tom Benoist was killed in St. Louis streetcar accident in 1917. Tony Jannus crashed into the Black Sea while training Russian pilots on October 12, 1916. Roger Jannus died on the western front of the same war while flying patrol over France on September 4, 1918.

On January 1, 2014, the 100th Anniversary of the first commercial flight, aircraft collector Kermit Weeks will re-create the first flight in a custom-made replica of the original Benoist Model 14. He will take off from the closest point to the historical marker honoring the event in St. Petersburg. More information on the aircraft construction and plans for the flight can be seen at: http://www.benoist2014.com/

(Much of this information on this page is from famous author R. E. G. Davies' book "The Birth of Commercial Aviation in the United States")
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rbph_0035-0818_2000_num_78_3_4474
and from a space.com article on the historic event - see
http://www.space.com/16657-worlds-first-commercial-airline-the-greatest-moments-in-flight.html for more information.