Qualla: Albert Whitted Airport: Where Commercial Aviation Was Born https://qualla.com/albert-whitted-airport en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:13 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/j/albert-whitted-airport-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Albert Whitted Airport: Where Commercial Aviation Was Born https://qualla.com/albert-whitted-airport Albert Whitted Airport: Where Commercial Aviation Was Born: Introduction https://qualla.com/albert-whitted-airport/ Photo credit Newpilot, CC BY-SA 3.0. On January 1, 1914, a Benoist XIV flying boat lifted off from St. Petersburg's central yacht basin carrying one passenger: A.C. Pheil, a former mayor. Pilot Tony Jannus had just flown the first scheduled commercial airline flight in history. The fare was $5 for the 23-mile trip across Tampa Bay. Fourteen years later, a new airport opened on the same downtown waterfront, named for a local boy who became one of the Navy's first 250 aviators and never charged anyone for a ride in his homemade airplane. Albert Whitted Airport has operated at the edge of downtown St. Petersburg ever since, surviving world wars, referendums that tried to turn it into a park, German submarine patrols, hurricane damage, and the relentless pressure of waterfront real estate. It sits seven feet above sea level. Its longest runway is 3,677 feet. Its history is enormous.

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/j/albert-whitted-airport-wp/dhvj-albert-whitted-airport-where-commercial-aviation-w-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Albert Whitted Airport: Where Commercial Aviation Was Born: The Aviator Who Never Charged a Fare https://qualla.com/albert-whitted-airport/ Photo credit Newpilot, CC BY-SA 3.0. Lieutenant James Albert Whitted was a St. Petersburg native commissioned as a Naval Aviator at age 24, just as America entered World War I in 1917. He was among the U.S. Navy's first 250 Naval Aviators. He served as chief instructor of advanced flying at NAS Pensacola and was lat...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/j/albert-whitted-airport-wp/dhvj-albert-whitted-airport-where-commercial-aviation-w-the-aviator-who-never-charged-a-fare.mp3 0:06 2 full Albert Whitted Airport: Where Commercial Aviation Was Born: Blimps, Airlines, and the Coast Guard https://qualla.com/albert-whitted-airport/ Photo credit Newpilot, CC BY-SA 3.0. The new airport attracted attention quickly. In 1929, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company agreed to base one of its famous airships at the field, making Albert Whitted one of the first airports in America to host blimps. National Airlines launched service from the airport in 193...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/j/albert-whitted-airport-wp/dhvj-albert-whitted-airport-where-commercial-aviation-w-blimps-airlines-and-the-coast-guard.mp3 0:06 3 full Albert Whitted Airport: Where Commercial Aviation Was Born: Training Wings https://qualla.com/albert-whitted-airport/ Photo credit Newpilot, CC BY-SA 3.0. During World War II, Albert Whitted Airport was converted into a primary flight training base for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. Hundreds of Naval Aviation cadets under the Navy's V-5 pre-commissioning program learned to fly in Stearman N2S and Waco biplanes over the waters of T...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/j/albert-whitted-airport-wp/dhvj-albert-whitted-airport-where-commercial-aviation-w-training-wings.mp3 0:06 4 full Albert Whitted Airport: Where Commercial Aviation Was Born: The Referendum That Failed https://qualla.com/albert-whitted-airport/ Photo credit Newpilot, CC BY-SA 3.0. In 2003, a group called Citizens for a New Waterfront Park gathered enough signatures to place a ballot question that would have closed Albert Whitted Airport and converted it into a city park. Waterfront land in downtown St. Petersburg was immensely valuable. The city offered tw...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/j/albert-whitted-airport-wp/dhvj-albert-whitted-airport-where-commercial-aviation-w-the-referendum-that-failed.mp3 0:06 5 full Albert Whitted Airport: Where Commercial Aviation Was Born: Seven Feet Above Sea Level https://qualla.com/albert-whitted-airport/ Photo credit Eric Gaba (Sting - fr:Sting), CC BY-SA 3.0. Albert Whitted Airport sits at an elevation of seven feet, with two asphalt runways: Runway 7/25 at 3,677 by 75 feet, and Runway 18/36 at 2,864 by 75 feet. In October 2024, Hurricane Milton destroyed hangars and scattered planes and debris across the facility, prompting a $1.2 mi...

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]]> Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/d/h/v/j/albert-whitted-airport-wp/dhvj-albert-whitted-airport-where-commercial-aviation-w-seven-feet-above-sea-level.mp3 0:06 6 full