New York City may soon have a new option for scheduled helicopter transfers from the airport to and from Manhattan. Helicopters, Inc. filed paperwork with the US Department of Transportations seeking to become a commuter air carrier, allowing it to sell services between the Hudson River heliport and both JFK and Newark Airports.
The company already provides heli-transfer services today, under Part 135 certification. The company says it has carried 10,000 passengers annually in the NYC-area, including airport transfers over the past several years, including more than 20,000 in 2023. By securing the DOT certification it can transition to selling individual seats on a scheduled basis to consumers using its fleet of Bell 407 helicopters.
Proposed schedule and fares
The initial proposed schedule calls for Helicopters, Inc. to operate three flights a day between the 30th Street heliport on the west side of Manhattan and JFK airport. An additional round-trip flight will operate to Newark. The carrier will not operate the scheduled service on Saturdays.
The six-seat Bell 407 helicopters can accommodate 1,000 pounds of passenger payload. The company expects its mature operation to carry four passengers per flight, along with three pieces of luggage, for a total payload of approximately 850 pounds.
The company notes that it already has the aircraft and crew to serve the market, so it expects minimal increase in expenses for the operation. On the revenue side of the ledger Helicopters, Inc. forecasts a $250 fare initially, generating $1,000 per one-way trip, or $48,000 weekly.
But the company also mentions an eventual reduction in fare to $100 per passenger. Given the limited capacity of the aircraft it is not clear how this would be to the carrier’s benefit, as that would top out at $600 in revenue for a trip, and there would be no room for luggage on board.
Yet another go…
This is not the first time a company has tried to make a go of direct retail sales in the NYC helicopter transfer world. The infamous incident atop the Pan Am building in May 1977 ended the practice of using buildings as landing pads in the city, but the riverfront airports continue to thrive. US Helicopter tried a similar operation nearly 20 years ago, partnering with major airlines to help boost demand. That experiment collapsed with the Great Financial Crisis of 2008-2009. Blade’s efforts appear to be vaguely successful, but it is still losing money on an annual basis. It does not break out profitability by market, however.
Helicopters, Inc. does note that it realizes ~$40 million in annual revenue “from aircraft providing services to major new networks such as NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX.” Moreover, those are longer-term contracts (typically 3-7 years) and provide “sufficient capital, if needed, to carry the program if consumer demand is not sufficient to do so and does not meet expectations.”
Competing with a major (former?) partner
The company listed four aircraft in its proposed operating fleet (though only one will operate the services on any given day, as detailed above). All four are painted today with markings for Blade as a contracted service provider.
Choosing to sell seats directly to customers on a scheduled operation basis raises some interesting questions around the Blade relationship. Blade’s website indicates that NYC helicopter transfers are operated by Zip Aviation, LLC. Helicopter Flight Services, LLC was also listed as an operator partner until 2022, but not Helicopters, Inc. Still, the aircraft in question have all been photographed in 2024 with Blade branding still painted on them. Moreover, flight tracking data suggests they are still flying the airport transfer routes, though that could be charter services, not Blade flights.
It is also worth noting that, while it appears to sell scheduled flights, Blade technically operates as an air charter broker and indirect air carrier. That may not appear different to customers, but the laws around customer rights are generally more favorable to consumers in the scheduled service market.
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