Aviation Historian Roger Codger
1914: Tony Jannus
The First Airline Pilot
The first ever airline started flying in 1914, between St.Petersburg and Tampa, Florida, in the United States of America. This was just over 10 years after the Wright Brothers made their first flight. This airline was called the St.Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, because they used flying boats, and Tony Jannus was the pilot.
Tony left the airline after about 3 months, becoming a test pilot for the Curtiss airplane company.
Tony Jannus
- 1912: Over-water record
(1900 miles of rivers)
- 1912: 1st parachute jump from plane
(pilot, for jumper Albert Berry)
- 1914: Airline Pilot
(for 3 months)
- 1914: Test Pilot for Curtiss
(flew JN-3, Jenny prototype)
- 1915: Sent to Russia
(Curtiss test and training pilot)
- 1916: Training pilots in Russia incomplete
Tony and the Benoist flying boat used by the World's first airline.
No cup of tea
on Tony's flights!
