The airboat was known as Benoist Airboat Model XIV, no. Fansler enlisted the support of Thomas Benoist (pronounced ben-wah), an early airplane manufacturer who provided the planes-or, more precisely, the airboats. Fansler, a Jacksonville-based electrical engineer. The airline was the brainchild of Percival E. It was organized just a few months before that New Year’s first takeoff. The world’s first regularly scheduled heavier-than-air airline took off from the Municipal Pier in St. The world’s first airline originated in St. And where was this airline? New York? Chicago? London? Berlin? No. Petersburg by Will Michaels, Published by the History Press, 2012)Įach year, the Tony Jannus Distinguished Aviation Society celebrates the world’s first airline and its record-breaking pilot, Tony Jannus. Nothing was left to chance.(This account is adapted from The Making of St. Crew and plane were put through their paces, both on the ground and in the air, with the aircraft carrying a large number of KLM staff who had volunteered to be pretend passengers. Henceforth, the role of purser became more that of cabin crew manager.Ī lot of practicing went on in the days leading up to the first commercial flight to New York on 14 February 1971. The purser took on more personnel-related tasks and came to be less directly involved with passengers. The cabin crew numbered thirteen and strict new working methods ensured the entire aircraft could be covered by a crew of this size.
Trays were developed so that the tableware could fit together like Lego bricks. The catering came on new trays and tableware, and single-use or disposable tableware made its entrance in economy class. The processes in the cabin underwent considerable changes in the 747. after a non-stop, 10-hour flight from Seattle. Under the excited gaze of press, passengers, KLM directors and many others, the aircraft landed at a foggy Schiphol at 10:45 a.m. KLM took delivery of PH-BUA, the “Mississippi”, on 31 January 1971, with all the appropriate ceremony. Schiphol too had to adjust and, all in all, several years of preparations preceded the arrival of the 747. This had all sorts of consequences for handling, crew, maintenance and catering. The 747 was an exceptional aircraft for its day and its 353-passenger capacity, in the KLM constellation, was a huge leap forward compared with the largest aircraft KLM had in operation at that time. It turned out that there was very little difference between using two aviobridges or three, so they settled on two. The opportunity this change presented was seized upon to find out what the best number of aviobridges would be. In 1969, a “head” equipped for the 747 was attached to the end of C Pier. This meant immediate change for the young Schiphol. Shortly after the new Schiphol airport opened in April 1967, KLM decided to acquire the Boeing 747 to cater for the stream of travellers it expected to transport to their destinations in the 1970s. In this fourth edition, the arrival of the widebody.
“A First Time for Everything” is a short series about the fact that things that are now everyday events had to start somewhere. Save Saved Save for later Saved for later