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The World's First Scheduled Airline
The St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line began flying across Tampa Bay on January 1, 1914. It lasted only three months.
The flight covered 29 kilometers (18 miles) and took 23 minutes-11 hours less than traveling between St. Petersburg and Tampa by rail.
The Airboat Line safely transported 1,204 passengers across the bay. But without a continuing subsidy from St. Petersburg or steady income from tourist traffic, it could not survive. The airline closed at the end of March. |