History

Jan 1: anniversary of the world’s 1st scheduled airline

The world’s first scheduled airline, the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, began operation on January 1, 1914, 110 years ago.

The half-hour flight from St. Petersburg, Florida to Tampa was 18 miles and the regular fare was $5 one-way.

The flight offered an alternative to the train, which could take up to 12 hours to make the trip, due to the circuitous route required.

The airplane used for the flight could only carry one passenger at a time. And that passenger had to sit next to the pilot in the open cockpit. This is just one of the reasons the airline ceased operations after only three months.

Former St. Petersburg Mayor A. C. Phiel (center) was the first passenger. The pilot was Tony Jannus (right), and the airline’s organizer was Paul E. Fansler (left). 

(Images courtesy of Smithsonian Institution)

Statues at PIT Airport Now on View for All

Photo by Beth Hollerich

Among the amenities at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) are three statues.

The lineup includes legendary traveler and early investigative journalist Nellie Bly, founding father George Washington, and Pittsburgh Steelers legend Franco Harris.

All three statues are here on loan from Pittsburgh’s Heinz History Center. And they are popular stops for selfies. But because the statues have been located lost post-security in the Airside Terminal, only ticketed passengers could pay the statues a visit.

Not anymore.

This week PIT moved all three historical to the pre-security Landside Terminal so that all travelers and all visitors can see the statues.

The relocation of the statues was prompted by the recent passing of Franco Harris. He died on December 20, just days before he and football fans were to mark the 50th anniversary of Harris’ now-legendary football play that became known as the “Immaculate Reception.”

After Harris died, “fans flocked to his lifelike figure in Pittsburgh International Airport’s Airside Terminal to pay their respects,” said PIT spokesman Bob Kerlick. “We received a lot of requests after Franco passed away for non-travelers to visit the statue which we could not accommodate. Now the statues are open to all.”

Want to see Nellie Bly, George Washington, and Franco Harris at Pittsburgh International Airport?

You’ll now find them behind the Information Desk near the primary TSA checkpoint in the Landside Terminal.

If you go, take a selfie and send it along to Stuck at the Airport and we’ll add it here.

What I learned about Dallas Love Field Airport

The team that produces “Love Field Stories,” the official podcast of Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL), was kind enough to include me as a guest for two upcoming episodes.

The two-parter delves into the unique history of the airport and highlights some of the wonderful art that can be spotted in and around the terminal.

The episodes will be live-streamed on Tuesday, April 12, and on May 10 at 12:30 p.m. (Central) on Love Field’s Facebook and YouTube and will include images of many of the historical events and artwork we discuss.

The podcast can also be heard on Apple Podcast, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and Pandora.

To produce the podcast, DAL teamed me up with Bruce Bleakley, who is an aviation historian and co-author of The Love Evolution: A Centennial Celebration of Love Field Airport and Its Art.

We called it a conversation. But really, it’s me getting to pick the brain of the airport’s historian. I asked Bleakley about how, in 1958, Dallas Love Field’s new terminal building came to have the first moving walkway at any airport in the world. And why there was an ice-skating rink in the terminal. And about the role that Dallas Love Filed played on that day in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas and Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn in as president on the DAL tarmac.

In this two-part podcast, we also learn the stories behind some of the great art that passengers walk over and walk by at DAL.

And I get Bleakley to tell us which city’s name is spelled wrong in the airport’s first commissioned piece of art. A detail he didn’t even share in his book.

I hope you’ll tune in!

Courtesy Frontiers of Flight Museum, Dallas

Celebrating the history of airports

The history department here at StuckatTheAirport.com is a big fan of anything having to do with the history of airports.

Airport libraries? We’ve read up that.

Moving walkways at airports? We’ve researched that too.

And we’re always glad to learn more about airport history over on the AirportHistory.org site.

The team there recently posted their top five illustrated airport history stories from 2021, starting with #5: a photo feature celebrating Vancouver International Airport on its 90th anniversary. You can see that feature here.

#4 on their list is a great story about the history of Montréal–Mirabel Airport. #3 is a story about Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in the 1960s (see that story here).

And #2 on their list is a roundup of the world’s 10 busiest airports at the dawn of the Jet Age in 1961. See that story here.

And we are not surprised to see that their #1 story for 2021 is a piece featuring some great photos celebrating the 40th anniversary of Singapore’s Changi Airport, one of our favorites. See that story here.

Old & new at TPA and DCA Airports + Places We’ll Go

Welcome to Stuck at The Airport.

Today we take a look back at some sweet photos from 50 years at Tampa International Airport (TPA). We get a look at some snaps from the new 14-gate concourse at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). And we put some new items on our “Places To Go” list – as soon as we’re allowed.

TPA celebrates 50 years

Tampa International Airport’s Main Terminal complex turned 50 years old on April 15. As part of the celebration, the airport put together this sweet video with great vintage images.  

Reagan National Airport debuts new concourse

There’s a new 14 gate, 225,000-square-foot concourse at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA). 

Gates 46-59 will serve flights for American Airlines’ regional operations at DCA and give travelers amenity-filled waiting areas and direct, enclosed access to aircraft via jetbridges. This is a major upgrade from the previous set-up which involved shuttle buses out to the dreaded Gate 35X.

The new concourse has a panaramic views of the Washington, D.C. skyline, a variety of seating options with power plugs nearby, 14,000 square feet of concession space, four public restrooms, four moving walkways, two mother’s care rooms, an indoor pet relief area, and a new baggage handling system.

Here are some more photos shared by Reagan National Airport.

Places We’ll Go

Once we get the all-clear, we’re going to go. Everywhere.

Here are some places we’re putting on the list.

Celebrating James Brown in Augusta, GA

If soul legend James Brown was still with us, he’d turn 88 on May 3. His hometown of Augusta, GA will be the place to celebrate, with a citywide walking tour and an outdoor birthday block party.

Dollywood Flower & Food Festival

The Dollywood theme park in the Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee looks like fun. Especially if we could get there between April 23 and June 7 when more than half a million flowers will be blooming for the “Flower & Food Festival.”

Poetry in Miami

The O, Miami Poetry Festival is underway through the month of April, with the goal of having people encounter, enjoy, and engage with poems in unlikely places. One of the projects, Poetry About Town, consists of “call-up” poems about two streets in Miami Dade County.