The first commercial flight was flew by American pilot Tony Jannus on 1 January 1914. It was a flight between St. Petersburg and Tampa, which took about 23 minutes and cost passengers 5 dollar per ticket. Abram C. Pheil who was the Mayor of St. Petersburg at the time was one of the passengers. Benoist XIV flying boat biplane was used, which reached a maximum speed of 121 kilometers per hour.

Tony died on 12 October 1916 at the age of only 27 during a flight training. You can find out more here.