Blade, a flying taxi company headquartered in New York City, is the Uber for planes and helicopters. Under its current program in San Francisco, Blade has given exclusive rights to download the app to 200 people. They will be charging $200 a seat per ride. For many, this could save money in the long run. The time saved by avoiding traffic could make a huge difference in compact cities like New York and Los Angeles.
The company also offers $800 trips from the New York City area to the Hamptons. The ultimate goal for Blade is to reduce the travel time, mostly for wealthy businessmen, in areas known for heavy traffic. This is currently one of the only ride sharing flight companies in the world, there are many others developing their own. UberAir is set to take flight as early as 2023 and has already collected billions of dollars in investments.
The next step for Blade is to expand into one of the most populated countries in the world, India. There could be a large market in cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi, two of the most densely populated cities in the world.
Sources:
https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/23/flying-taxi-startup-blade-is-helping-silicon-valley-ceos-bypass-traffic/
http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/
I was recently in New York and it took 45 min to go 3 miles in an Uber. I can see this being an alternative for individuals who can afford this, and the view of the city must be an added benefit. It’s interesting because once the helicopters land at designated areas, the individuals would still have to take a ride sharing service to go further into the city. The expansion into other cities is a great motive to attract more people, and word of mouth will get more people to use it. I wonder if they thought of other forms of transportation methods, such as motorcycles or boats.
This is a really interesting concept, in that it targets such a niche market. Your average consumer will most likely never use this on a daily basis, but for higher-up individuals in organizations it is a possibility. The businesses could potentially partner with Blade to offer packages for its employees to bypass these common traffic issues. My concern is that this could call for major infrastructure changes due to the need for landing pads in cities. I am not sure what the current landscape is for the select cities, but I think there would need to be many different landing locations in order to appeal to as many consumers. Furthermore, a concern is with Uber coming out with its flight service. With Uber having more capital (presumably), I would not be surprised to see Blade run into issues with where it stands. I think in the short term this is a great idea, but the long term potential can be short-lived if larger companies enter this niche industry.
This is definitely a cool idea. I doubt an average person will use this (unless you hate traffic that much), but for wealthy individuals and corporations this can be great to meet clients on a timely basis. Most corporations, especially the bigger ones, have helipads on the rooftops which should help with landing or pickups in certain areas. Otherwise, maybe Blade will include a parachute with that $200 price tag.
This is a really interesting concept to remove travel time. It is, however, very expensive, even for the wealthy. From personal experience, I never drive to New York nor do I ever take a taxi in the city. I alway take a bus there and then walk wherever I want to go. Obviously, it is not feasible to walk to every place in New York is it is such a large city. Therefore, a service such as this can be very beneficial and a lucrative business granted there are not many competitors.
I love the idea behind Blade. Congested cities, such as New York City and Los Angeles, are overdue for a solution to their gruesome traffic. Granted, it is a very expensive option of transportation. Similar to the others who have commented, I believe this option of transportation is a luxury that only the upper class may consider taking. This made me remember a Joe Rogan podcast video I watched months ago and Elon Musk was the special guest. Elon Musk’s solution to traffic is to create a 3D system of transportation by creating many levels of tunnels underground. Elon’s idea could the solution for all classes of people.