Police held the crowd back as Jannus and Pheil obliged a cameraman who asked them to pose for pictures. A reporter from the Tampa Tribune asked Pheil why his hands were all greasy. He replied that it was from “assisting Mr. Jannus to adjust some machinery.” Pheil went to a telephone and called St. Petersburg to announce their arrival.

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Jannus and Pheil left Tampa for the return trip at 11 a.m. and arrived back in St. Petersburg before another cheering crowd. Just before the afternoon flight, a second auction was held, with Noel A. Mitchell the successful bidder for a round-trip flight at $175. The next day, Mrs. L.A. Whitney, wife of the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, made the flight to Tampa and back to become the first woman passenger to fly on a fixed-wing scheduled airline. (Actually, Mae Peabody of Dubuque, Iowa, was the first woman to make a local flight out of St. Petersburg.) Whitney described the flight as “the most delightful sensation imaginable–it is like being rocked to sleep in your mother’s arms.”

The St. Petersburg Times announced that it had signed a contract with the airboat line to fly papers daily to Tampa, which would make it “the first newspaper in the world to use flying machines for delivery purposes.” The announcement added, “This will be the most unusual carrier system in all the world and Tampa readers, when they receive their copy… will read a newspaper delivered as no other.”

The Tampa Tribune noted that the first flight had been made “without mishap” and gave the event a banner headline in its January 2 edition–”The First Commercial Air Ship Line Inaugurated.” The article stated: “When the airboat arrived yesterday morning, a crowd of 2,000 was waiting near the temporary landing [site], another 1,000 saw what they could from the Lafayette Street bridge, and 500 more were across the river. When the dock was reached, an enthusiastic cheer went up, and there was a clapping and the waving of hats and handkerchiefs. A moment later, there was a rush down the three narrow planks connecting the platform with the shore; men, women and children [were] fighting to get down to the boat and its two occupants.”

There was amused reaction from other state newspapers. The Jacksonville Metropolis editorialized that “St. Petersburg is now a city of pelicans, porpoises & planes.” Its rival, the Jacksonville News, advised: “St. Petersburg papers might secure an obituary sketch of all aeroplane passengers at the same time they take the passenger manifests. It might save time.” The Estero Eagle asked, “Is Tampa such a tough and wicked old city that its residents are preparing to fly from it?”

The Tampa Tribune responded to that question a few days later: “All airboat passengers have been from St. Petersburg and are apparently eager to get to Tampa.” The St. Petersburg Independent replied: “It is noticeable that the time from Tampa is always faster than the time to Tampa. Once having reached Tampa, no matter how anxious to get there, the passengers are always in a hurry to get away.”

Jannus’ flight records show that an additional five short flights of about 10 minutes each were made that epic day. He noted that the engine was burning 13 gallons of fuel and about a gallon of lubricating oil per hour of flight.

The airline service had to sort out a few administrative problems. The Tampa Port Inspector required that the airline get a license for all its pilots and planes, so Jannus immediately applied for one, which was issued on February 17, 1914, by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Some historians claim it was the first airline pilot’s license in the United States. According to Edward C. Hoffman, president of the Florida Aviation Historical Society, the license they have on hand has the word “steamboat” crossed out and “Aeroplane” typed in. (Another license was granted on August 10, 1914, at Cleveland, Ohio, which states that it is issued for “Operator Motor” and appears to be for operation of motorboats.)

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