Fly Through This Quiz on Airline History

The world’s first commercial passenger flight took off on January 1, 1914, from St. Petersburg to Tampa, Florida. The 23-minute flight was flown by pilot Tony Jannus and was only able to carry one passenger: Abram C. Pheil, the former mayor of St. Petersburg.

British Airways Overseas Corporation (BOAC), a predecessor of British Airways, helped launch the jet age, becoming the first airline to introduce regular passenger service on a jet. On May 2, 1952, a de Havilland Comet jet took off from London to Johannesburg, South Africa, with 36 passengers. The 18-hour, 40-minute trip included stops in Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Entebbe, and Livingston.

In 1990, Eastern Airlines provided its passengers with issues of an in-flight catalog called “SkyMall.” Passengers were invited to browse the catalog and use the plane’s Airfone service to order items mid-flight. By 1998, SkyMall had exclusive deals to distribute its catalogs to passengers flying on every major U.S. airline, becoming famous for its quirky novelty items.

After the Airline Deregulation Act of 1978, which opened up the market to free competition, every carrier was looking for an edge to win over customers and keep them loyal. Texas International Airlines created the first frequent flyer program in 1979, and Western Air followed suit the next year. Those airlines are no longer in business, making American’s AAdvantage, introduced in 1981, the oldest frequent flyer program still in use.

Named after 19th-century sailing vessels, Pan Am’s flying boats were used to conquer long-distance travel to hard-to-reach places. Essentially flying hotels, the luxurious clippers were designed so their massive buoyant hulls were beneath their wings. This allowed the planes to act like a large pontoon, facilitating water landings and take-offs, which was essential to opening travel to remote destinations that lacked proper runways.

One of the wealthiest people in American history, Howard Hughes had a passion for planes. He purchased a majority stake in Trans World Airlines (TWA) in 1939 and later worked with aircraft manufacturer Lockheed during the creation of the Constellation, whose innovative pressurized cabin allowed much faster flights at higher altitudes.

In 1913, traveling from St. Petersburg, Florida, across the bay to Tampa took two hours by steamship or up to 12 hours by rail. Enter: Pilot Tony Jannus, whose “flying boat” could make the trip in just 23 minutes. His short-lived St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line cost $5 a ticket (about $100 today) and is considered the world’s first commercial airline service.

Commercial air travel became possible in 1909, when the German airline DELAG began providing flights on the LZ-127 Graf Zeppelin between Berlin and Friedrichshafen. The service was so successful that by 1931, DELAG began offering transatlantic flights from Germany to South America. The Zeppelin completed 136 trips in total before it was retired in 1937.

In 1925, Delta Air Lines was founded in Georgia as Huff Deland Dusters. The aerial crop-dusting company was the world’s first to offer the service commercially, and its success allowed the company to branch out into providing transportation services. In 1928, new owners named the company Delta Air Lines, after the Mississippi Delta region where it operated.

On January 25, 1959, American Airlines Flight 2 completed a trip from Los Angeles to New York City, becoming the first nonstop commercial flight across the U.S. Passengers traveled in style — meal service included breakfast, followed by a cocktail hour, and concluded with a lunch of Maine lobster and filet mignon.

The first airline to make in-flight movies a regular feature was TWA, which introduced the service in 1961. During the flight, a movie was projected onto a single screen at the front of the cabin. The service was so popular that TWA passengers altered their travel plans based on which movies played on their flights.

Airlines began serving food onboard as early as 1919, when British airline Handley Page sold pre-packaged lunches for three shillings (around $10 today). Technical innovation eventually allowed United Airlines to install kitchens aboard their planes, giving passengers access to hot meals in the sky. The airline’s early airborne diners got to choose between fried chicken and scrambled eggs.

Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij, which translates to “Royal Dutch Airlines,” was founded in October 1919, making it the oldest airline still functioning today. With a long mercantile history, the Netherlands recognized early on the benefit airplanes would have reaching far-flung colonies such as the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).

On June 28, 1939, Pan Am airlines completed a passenger flight between New York City and Marseilles, France. Pilots had crossed the Atlantic before, but this trip marked the first transoceanic commercial passenger flight. Pan Am made its historic flight using a Boeing B-314; not long after, during World War II, the U.S. Army used Pan Am’s B-314 fleet to send personnel and supplies across the ocean.

In 1984, British businessman Richard Branson founded Virgin Atlantic Airways. The billionaire’s inspiration for the airline came when a canceled flight left him stranded on a trip to the Virgin Islands. Branson hired a private plane, wrote a sign that said “Virgin Airways,” and sold tickets to the other stranded passengers for $39.

On February 7, 1964, the Beatles arrived at New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport on Pan Am Flight 101. Over 4,000 screaming fans greeted the band on the tarmac, officially kicking off Beatlemania in the states. During this visit, the Beatles made their celebrated appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” a performance viewed by 70 million people.

In May 1918, the U.S. Postal Service initiated regular air mail service, but by 1925, they were contracting the job to the earliest private airlines. Early airline routes paid little, and the Post Office would subsidize airline losses. By 1930, the Postmaster General began paying airlines on carrying capacity instead of actual mail moved. This drove innovation for larger and larger planes, which eventually allowed for passenger service.

Able to fly across the Atlantic Ocean in about three hours, the supersonic Concorde jet was a revolutionary plane for its time. The airliner first flew in 1969, but only 14 ever entered service, and with just two airlines: Air France and British Airways, flying from New York’s Kennedy Airport to Paris and London, respectively. Citing high costs, the airlines retired the plane in 2003.

One of the earliest low-cost, no-frills carriers, Southwest declared itself the “peanut airline”: Fly for “peanuts,” and enjoy some peanuts during the ride. Skipping the hassle of in-flight meals meant more savings for the customer. In 2018, Southwest halted their peanut pleasantries to limit potentially deadly allergy interactions, but devotees were able to purchase the nuts from their online store.

On January 13, 1943, amid World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first sitting President to fly across the Atlantic Ocean. FDR crossed the pond to meet secretly with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Officials were hesitant to let the President fly, but German U-boats patrolling the Atlantic made a trip by boat too risky, and air travel was selected as the safest possible course.