America Rising?

[Bronx]

America Rising - the first helicopter airline?

According to the Washington Post, "assuming appropriate government approvals", a new helicopter airline will fly scheduled corporate shuttle services between downtown Washington and downtown New York.
Scheduled to begin in the Spring of 2003, America Rising will offer 12 round trips per day in each direction from 7 a.m. to 8 pm in 12, 18 or 30 helicopters and claims the total cost will be far below any other way to go.
The helicopter service will be targeted at high-worth executives - the company argues the true total cost will be cheaper than airline travel because it eliminates expensive executive time wasted on long trips to/from the airport, long waits in airport lines with hundreds of other passengers, delays to takeoff and land, taxi to and from the terminal.
"We're setting up the first helicopter airline. This is going to work, this is going to be a big thing," said the President of America Rising which has been trying for at least two years to create a network of so-called "helistops" between Baltimore and Richmond.
The company concedes road travel is best for distances of < 50 miles and jets best for > 300 miles. In between, helicopter travel is the most cost-efficient for 'time is money' executives.
The time to travel between Washington DC and New York City - city centre to city centre - is currently 3-5 hours. The helicopter service will be just 75 minutes.
Other downtown destinations, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Richmond, will be accessible in less than 1/3 the current travel time.

If this works, and grows, we could see a whole new future opening up for our industry. :)
The claim it will be the first "helicopter airline" - anyone know of another one?

[ClearBlueWater]

I don't know how you want to define 'airline' but off the top of my head I can think of regular shuttle services run between Cornwall and the Scilly isles in the UK, between Finland and Estonia (or maybe Latvia) and between HK and mainland China.

[rightpedalRIGHTPEDAL]

There has been a scheduled service between the islands of Montserrat and Antigua in the Caribbean now for about 4 years, using a Dauphin.
Then there is HeliJet out of Vancouver, using 76's and (I think) a 61.

[PPRUNE FAN#1]

The unnamed president of America Rising states:
"We're setting up the first helicopter airline. This is going to work, this is going to be a big thing."

Ah, hyperbole. Don't you love it?

"First helicopter airline?" Let's remember that Americans sometimes forget that any other country in the world exists except theirs. So if he was speaking domestically in the U.S., he probably just "forgot" about New York Airways (which was a part-121 helicopter airline), Los Angeles Airways, SFO Airways (which all used the Sikorsky S-61), Chicago Airways (S-58), and Airspur (Westland 30 -egad!). Those were the biggest. In addition, there were scads of smaller helicopter "airlines," which ran under FAR part-135, and some which used equipment as big as SA-360 Dauphins and S-58T's, with one operator in the U.S. Virgin Islands (Virgin Island Airways?) using SA-365's! And of course Helijet and their S-76's was already mentioned.

Perhaps the president of this new venture is too young to know any history of the helicopter industry. If so, then he might not have made his next two unfortunate statements.

"This is going to work." Umm, dear boy, many have come before you with the same misguided belief. Nice that you state it so definitively, but in reality it remains to be seen. It is a HUGE gamble, as always.

"This is going to be a big thing." Where would the world be without dreamers? Perhaps this guy wishes to make a small fortune in aviation the conventional way. It might very well turn out that the only thing "big" about America Rising is the splash it makes when it fails.

There are many obstacles to success. Paramount among them are the skyscrapers of lower Manhattan. Helicopter airlines are great when the weather is good and everything is lovely, but what do you do when it's bad?

Cancel? (Great!) Go VFR and scud-run up the Jersey shore? (Mmm...I don't think so.) Go IFR, shoot an approach to Newark then break out and go VFR the rest of the way? (Good luck!)

Not saying it won't work - Lord, I'm something of a dreamer too. But we've seen this all before. Any of us who've been around awhile can look realistically at what this will cost the naive president of America Rising to run, and know what he's going to have to charge...in a world where people are skittish of helicopters to begin with.

[paco]

Not forgetting the Glasgow - Fort William - Oban - Rothesay - Lochgilphead service with a JetRanger back in the 80s for about four years, three times a day!

Phil

[Cyclic Hotline]

As others have noted, definitely not the first helicopter airline by a long way!

Checking out their website (http://www.capitolrising.com/index.html) it appears they intend to use S-92's and maybe AB139's! Not a bad expansion from a current fleet of 206, 206L and a 109!

Not to say that this is not a viable plan, especially in current times. The President of this organization certainly seems to have the capability, resources (and connections?) (http://www.stevewalker.com/team/steve/steve.html) to pull off something of this nature. We can only assume that past helicopter airlines and the causes of their failure in this arena have been closely examined.

PF#1 questions whether it is feasible to operate in the North-eastern corridor, but if you recall one of the helicopter airlines you omitted to mention, Trump, and their predecessors, did it successfully for years - not to mention the extensive fleet of corporate operators who do it every day!

Could actually prove to be a very interesting venture - I certainly wouldn't discount it yet. I will watch with great interest.

[Q max]

....for everyone I've not succesfully stopped from turning a big pile of cash into a 'small fortune' like this ....I'd have £6 !

He fits the 'profile' perfectly.


I wonder if he'll give PPRUNE a percentage of the money saved in return for the expert consultancy ??

[Heliport]

ClearBlueWater may have hit the nail on the head when he says it depends how you define 'airline'. It looks as if the 'helicopter airline' plans to have a network of routes, and I suppose it's fair to make allowance for the marketing/promotion blurb.

The claimed cost advantages are described at Cost Comparison. (http://www.capitolrising.com/html/Cost%20Comparison.htm)

Good luck to them, I say. Let's hope it's a great success which spreads throughout the US and then, who knows, even into Europe. :eek:

[Bronx]

Nice idea Heliport but even if it's a success in the US (and I hope it is) what are the chances of them allowing a heliport anywhere near/convenient for the City of London? The Westland heliport isn't exactly convenient for the City as I recall - you'd still have traffic problems getting to the meeting.

Didn't they try a barge on the Thames some years ago, which got shut down coz of the anti-helo objectors?

Apart from people being a tad nervous in the wake of 9/11, objectors are the exception in the States. We have our 'noise pollution' militants, but most people aren't interested if a helo flies past the window, it's no big deal.
I wouldn't want to try my luck doing that in England! :eek:

Sad that your CAA doesn't do more to support and promote your industry instead of taking the side of the complainers.

[ATPMBA]

I wish America Rising the best of luck and good success!

Holding an MBA business degree along with an ATP, I have an interest in the business side of helicopters.

A helicopter airline idea has been kicked around over the last few years in the U.S. and it should really be a no-brainer except when you try to obtain helicopter insurance. Most air taxi helicopter operators are considered "on-demand", no set flight schedule. Insurance has been harder and more costly to obtain in the last year, some operators have dropped out of the business.

It appears that America Rising would operate as a "commuter airline", as they would fly according to published schedules. Insurance liability is higher for this kind of operation than on-demand, they would be covering new un-charted ground in the insurance field. I hope they got some reasonable quotes as this could be the go-no-go decision maker.

Their passengers would also have to go through security screening. If they have separate screening's away from the airlines they would need the equipment and personal. On a positive note, a passenger who is properley screened and the operator is an IATA member can have that passenger interline with another IATA member airline on one "seamless" airline ticket.

The East coast of the U.S. is heavily populated from Boston to Washington D.C.. With car traffic congestion and the hassle of flying the airlines this idea should work. Some major companies in my area fly their S-76's daily to and from New York City shuttling exec's and others.

This is all good good new for Sikorsky as they have the proven equipment for this kind of operation and are well positioned with the S-92. Perhaps Nick could sit on the board of directors and lend his credibility to the operation!!!:)

[Steve76]

I was just chatting about this subject a couple of days ago with a college. I recalled to him an article written in R&W about a helishuttle service. Guess who it was about? Steve Walker.
As I recall he was starting out with a longranger and another type. Must be doing OK to have made it this far. The article was back in 2000 if I recall correctly.
Best of fortune to these guys.

[TeeS]

- and don't forget the British Caledonian Helicopter Shuttle between Heathrow and Gatwick, killed off by politics and pseudo greens. I believe that although it did not directly make a profit it was viable as a feeder for B-Cal mainline.

TeeS

[zachUK]

As an aside, I have flown Helijet's S-76 service between Vancouver harbour and Victoria harbour at least half a dozen times ... an excellent way to travel compared to the ferry or floatplane for that matter. They have 15 flights a day and are relatively cheap ... I paid about $110 CDN one-way with virtually no notice. Air Canada wanted $250 CDN for Dash 8 service intra-airport!

From a financial point of view, Helijet has a unique advantage over others looking to establish regularly scheduled helicopter service. The provincial government resides in Victoria, a city of about 250,000 people on an island about 30 miles from Vancouver. So a lot of government employees use it to attend meetings in Vancouver ... automatic cash cow. Without government being where it is, I don't think Helijet would be viable.

[PPRUNE FAN#1]

There is a high-speed train (Amtrak's Acela Express) between Washington D.C. and NYC which costs $304 round-trip and takes 2:45 one-way. Though the time enroute is long, don't forget that you can spend the time productively, working on your laptop or talking on your cellphone (or drinking in the bar car, if that is your wont). You're not scrunched into a tiny seat in a little aluminium tube between two fat ladies and a squawling baby. Nor are you seated for an hour and fifteen minutes in a clattering, vibrating machine of questionable safety.

In theory, America Rising could work. In theory. But the practical realities of aviation (and economics) in America have killed all of the U.S. domestic scheduled service helicopter operations in the past. There are some huge hurdles for Steve Walker to overcome.

If it were only as simple as buying/leasing a couple of aircraft and instituting a scheduled service between two points! But it's not. America Rising seems to be predicated on aircraft that are not even certified yet. Currently there are only two helicopters that could do what they intend: the Sikorsky S-76 and the Eurocopter Super Puma. (Let's not be silly and suggest something like the BV-107 or 234, okay?) Hey, maybe America Rising got an early delivery slot on an AB-139, I don't know. But basing an entirely new company on two brand-new aircraft (the AB-139 and the Sikorsky S-92) is ballsy indeed since these airframes have no track record.

Despite what some people have said about corporate helos going IFR into Manhattan, I don't believe that it will be very easy to fit 24 flights per day (12 round-trips) into the northeast corridor IFR system. Newark and Reagan National are already crowded, busy places. Throwing helicopters into the mix is going to muck things up terribly when the wx is really crappy (500/1, say) but still flyable. Anyone who thinks it'll be easy is very, very naive.

Also, there is the undeniable stigma associated with helicopters. This isn't the 1960's. We've come a long way in the past forty years and there have been plenty of accidents on the news - some very high-profile ones. Thanks to the media, the general public perceives helicopters as being "dangerous."

Let's play with some numbers: Say they start off with an S-76. At $618 round-trip (assuming everyone buys round-trip tickets) and their initial average load factor is an optimistic 12 pax, then their per-trip revenue is $7,416. That works out to be $89,000 per day (12 trips) or $23,114,000 per year even if they don't fly on weekends. Your numbers may vary, as they say. For fun, plug in your own and see what you come up with. The $618 fare and twelve trips are the constants.

Now let's assume that their average flight time will really be 1:20 each way or 2:40 r/t. With twelve flights, this equals 32 hours per day. Figure they'll be making about $2,780 per flight hour ($89,000 divided by 32).

Might seem like a lot of money, but remember they're not going to be able to do that with just one ship. Three ships will mean just over ten hours per day per ship. Four aircraft is the absolute minimum, probably five including the spare, which will be mandatory. Again, these are helicopters, not Boeings, and they are simply not going to acheive the same dispatch reliability on such a hectic schedule.

As we see, the costs are adding up. That $2,780 per flight hour which looked so attractive earlier now starts getting eaten up in debt service for five a/c, insurance (hoo boy!), fuel costs, crew costs (don't forget all the training!), more maintenance people, administrative people, a big hangar, office space rent, terminal space rent (times two)...the list goes on. Oh, and you wanted to make a profit too??

I wish Steve Walker a lot of luck; he's going to need it. With the current situation in the airline industry (e.g. the hassles associated with *every* flight and our frustration with them), there just might be a market for a helicopter service between Washington D.C. and Nuevo York! At least, I hope so. But the startup costs have to be daunting, even for a rich, well-connected guy who had a hand in inventing the internet.

It will be very, very interesting to watch.

[whirlyflyer]

When it comes to airlines, I'm afraid I know very little, but here is my opinion anyway. :)

It seems to me that there is a demand for this service, but I don't think anyone doubts that. What the issue seems to be is, can this service be provided for a price people are willing to pay? I can fly half way around the planet for less money than they want to charge for a 1 hour flight across town. You've got to want to get across town really badly for that to make financial sense.

Boeing spoiled the world, the price per seat mile of flying airliners around keeps coming down, helicopters have remained expensive. Perhaps the solution here is to figure out how to "Boeingize" the helicopters, develop a helicopter that can do this job for 1/5 the price of current helos...

Now, does anyone know what the Boeing 747 of the helicopter world is going to look like? Is this what the tilt-rotor was supposed to be for?

WF

[Dave Jackson]

The biggest competition to scheduled shuttle services may be rapid rail transport. Don't some of the newer trains have speeds that are close to those of rotorcraft?
:(

I think that Bombardier is using turbine engines in their latest commuter trains.

[PPRUNE FAN#1]

Dave Jackson asked:
The biggest competition to scheduled shuttle services may be rapid rail transport. Don't some of the newer trains have speeds that are close to those of rotorcraft?

The Amtrak Acela boasts that it does "150 mph." Umm...maybe. Certainly not an average speed. Figuring 180 miles, an enroute time of 2:45 gives us an average speed of a little under 70 mph. And the U.S. isn't exactly filled with rail lines that can handle the high-speed trains.

But you're right, high-speed trains will definitely compete with helicopters on short runs. America Rising will charge $309 one-way (if they even sell a one-way ticket) while a Business Class ticket on the Acela is $304 round-trip! Granted, the train takes twice the time of the helo (depending on which particular ship AR ends up using, of course).

You know, after I made it, I got to thinking about my last post. Can an S-76 even take 12 pax on a 200 mile flight with IFR reserves? Probably wouldn't be much baggage... Any of you offshore guys want to weigh-in?

[sierra-papa]

Dave Jackson,
I agree with you - although the US doesn't yet have anything fast like some european countries. Fast rail transport in Germany and France can reach 200 mph (320 km/h). But maybe there is not enough potential volume between NY and DC to build highspeed rail tracks and all that belongs to it. That would for sure cost way more then to set up a helo shuttle.

Good luck to America Rising anyways. I am for anything that puts the publics focus on the safe operation of helicopters.
sp

[ATPMBA]

I belieive America Rising's target market does not take the train anywhere. They are marketing to the affluent, early adopters that value their time. Example, lawyers with billing rates of $500 US per hour are not interested in saving $150. Even small town lawyers in my area bill at $200 per hour. A few people from NYC often use heli's to go out to the Hampton's on Long Island during the summer and are paying comparable rates. $618 per round trip is comparable to the airlines.

[OFBSLF]

Unfortunately, Acela is not really a likely competitor. The Boston to NY railbed has many tight curves, which limit its speed. The Acela trains have an expensive tilting suspension that was designed to allow it to take the corners at higher speeds. It was only shortly before they were ready for service that someone figured out that there wasn't enough distance between adjacent tracks to ensure proper clearance between trains. And most recently, Amtrak had to pull all the Acela's from service to cracks in the suspension.

Properly run high-speed rail might be a competitor for such a service. Unfortunately, Amtrak is, and forever will be, unable to run anything properly that is more complicated than a 2-car funeral.