January 1, 2014 marks exactly 100 years since the birth of commercial aviation.
From IATA pressroom:
Celebration of first paying passenger flight launches year of reflection on contribution of aviation to modern life
On 1 January 1914, a team of four visionaries combined efforts in the first scheduled commercial airline flight
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Percival Fansler organised the funding for the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line which provided the first scheduled air service across Tampa Bay, Florida
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Thomas Benoist’s airboat conducted the first flight, piloted by Tony Jannus
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Abram Pheil, then mayor of St. Petersburg, paid $400 at auction for the 23-minute flight
From International Business Times:
To put this achievement in perspective, consider this: On Jan. 1, 1914, one commercial passenger flew on one commercial flight. On Jan. 1, 2014, an estimated 8 million people flew on nearly 100,000 flights.
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