Uber taxis moves into helicopter taxis
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Uber taxis moves into helicopter taxis
This weekend i noticed Uber have rented a helicopter for transport across the water from Denmark to Sweden for an Avinci music concert. An interesting concept. I wonder how this is commercially certified? Could we be seeing more of this to come? 1950 kr (approx 200 pounds per person) for an Uber helicopter taxi.
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Uber Copter to Offer Helicopter Rides in New York City Starting July 9
Uber Technologies Inc. is testing a helicopter service in New York City, according to documents outlining the program obtained by Bloomberg.Passengers will be able to use the Uber app to book a flight through the service, called Uber Copter, the documents show. Tests flights took off from a Manhattan heliport near Wall Street to John F. Kennedy International Airport.After Bloomberg asked Uber for comment Wednesday, the New York Times published a story about the program. It says customers will be able to book flights starting July 9 in New York City and that the average ride will cost $200 to $225 a person. Eric Allison, the head of Uber’s flight business, told the Times that the company plans to eventually offer helicopter rides in other cities.
In Manhattan, the helicopters depart and land from a heliport near the Staten Island Ferry, while at Kennedy, they depart and land at a helipad near Terminal 8.Passengers will be picked up or dropped off by car in Manhattan, and at Kennedy, they’ll be met at the helicopter tarmac by a car and driven directly to their terminal or picked up at the terminal and taken to the helicopter tarmac, Mr. Goel said.The helicopters will be operated by HeliFlite, a Newark-based company with a fleet of twin-engine helicopters. Two pilots will be on every flight, and passengers will be shown a 90-second safety video before taking off.Many helicopters, including those to be used by Uber Copter, have neither the space nor the weight capacity to accommodate large bags. Passengers will only be allowed to bring on one personal bag and one carry-on weighing no more than 40 pounds.
This is a very impressive launch, twin engines, two pilots and all this for $200 per head! I assume this is the Uber pool service option flying in an S-76 or similar? If this is the case we can only begin to imagine what luxury we might get to fly in if we take the Uber X option! Any ideas what we might get to fly in if we opt for the Uber comfort?
Heavily subsidized to gain traction, then prices will likely increase greatly. Landing fees at JRB and JFK alone eat up the cost of 2+ passengers unless there are big negotiated deals on both ends.
Nothing new here.
Laughed when I read the phrase ‘on demand’ - when else would you want to hail a taxi?
similar to Blade - nothing more than tech aiding a ride-sharing brokerage.
Safer to do it under EASA than FAA regs - as global helicopter community were once again reminded of the shallow level of safety oversight in USA and how unscrupulous companies are quick to take advantage - regardless of how many commercial passengers they leave tied into a chopper at the bottom of the harbour.
Laughed when I read the phrase ‘on demand’ - when else would you want to hail a taxi?
similar to Blade - nothing more than tech aiding a ride-sharing brokerage.
Safer to do it under EASA than FAA regs - as global helicopter community were once again reminded of the shallow level of safety oversight in USA and how unscrupulous companies are quick to take advantage - regardless of how many commercial passengers they leave tied into a chopper at the bottom of the harbour.
Safer to do it under EASA than FAA regs - as global helicopter community were once again reminded of the shallow level of safety oversight in USA and how unscrupulous companies are quick to take advantage - regardless of how many commercial passengers they leave tied into a chopper at the bottom of the harbour.
Those exact same restraints are back in use, though, with an approved LOA from the FAA and the addition of QR devices. The only difference is that now they’re “approved”. But that’s all for a different thread.
Gordy - I do believe that in certain countries - a knife is regarded as a ‘QR device’......
Plenty of holes in safety oversight in too many CAAs.
I agree totally.
However, this was not the case in that ditching. They had been inspected and the rudimentary and obviously ‘gash’ fixings were seen but ignored.
There are numerous ‘on-demand’ flights that are, in the plain light of day, ‘scheduled’. Interpretation also varies in different CAAs and there is no way your passenger is going to appreciate the differences - which is the main crutch here.
Texh gives the illusion of ‘on demand’ but it turns out that flight is aggregated to a ‘dynamic schedule’ agreed by different parties - or at least that is the intended illusion.
Plenty of holes in safety oversight in too many CAAs.
I agree totally.
However, this was not the case in that ditching. They had been inspected and the rudimentary and obviously ‘gash’ fixings were seen but ignored.
There are numerous ‘on-demand’ flights that are, in the plain light of day, ‘scheduled’. Interpretation also varies in different CAAs and there is no way your passenger is going to appreciate the differences - which is the main crutch here.
Texh gives the illusion of ‘on demand’ but it turns out that flight is aggregated to a ‘dynamic schedule’ agreed by different parties - or at least that is the intended illusion.
Here is an example.
"according to a published timetable or with such a degree of regularity and frequency that they constitute a recognisable systematic series"
Bell_ringer
The definition is not in doubt - and a proposed schedule has to receive prior approval/nod from CAA etc etc.
Application of Tech is a game changer.
Much in the same way as here in UK where, thanks to Uber, we can ‘pre-book’ a ‘taxi’ at a moments notice - in effect it becoming an ‘instantaneous’ service, much like our Black Taxis. You might not know that our Black Taxi drivers required separate licensing and a specific level of knowledge prior to qualifying to convey as a ‘Hackney carriage’.
Tech now facilitates mass dynamic conjuring of departure times from a fixed-point to another fixed-point - a set service from one collection point to another, let’s say a downtown helipad to an airport.
Now, imagine that the frequency and preferred departure timings all fall into a pattern which looks remarkably the same every day, or every other day.
As it would do as customers connect with onward regular, scheduled, flights.
So, in effect, we produce a flight program that is a ‘scheduled service’ in all but name, but operated to different training, maintenance, oversight standards/levels.
Indeed, you can be sure that the backers will have seen it as providing a set number of flights/day to determine EBITDA. Agreed that financial accounting does not make it ‘scheduled’ but the preferred peaks of demand will demonstrate that departure timings will be very, very, very similar..........and expected/planned for by the operator, owner, broker......
The definition is not in doubt - and a proposed schedule has to receive prior approval/nod from CAA etc etc.
Application of Tech is a game changer.
Much in the same way as here in UK where, thanks to Uber, we can ‘pre-book’ a ‘taxi’ at a moments notice - in effect it becoming an ‘instantaneous’ service, much like our Black Taxis. You might not know that our Black Taxi drivers required separate licensing and a specific level of knowledge prior to qualifying to convey as a ‘Hackney carriage’.
Tech now facilitates mass dynamic conjuring of departure times from a fixed-point to another fixed-point - a set service from one collection point to another, let’s say a downtown helipad to an airport.
Now, imagine that the frequency and preferred departure timings all fall into a pattern which looks remarkably the same every day, or every other day.
As it would do as customers connect with onward regular, scheduled, flights.
So, in effect, we produce a flight program that is a ‘scheduled service’ in all but name, but operated to different training, maintenance, oversight standards/levels.
Indeed, you can be sure that the backers will have seen it as providing a set number of flights/day to determine EBITDA. Agreed that financial accounting does not make it ‘scheduled’ but the preferred peaks of demand will demonstrate that departure timings will be very, very, very similar..........and expected/planned for by the operator, owner, broker......
Any organisation that sits back and enjoys the status quo, providing marginal customer service at an elevated cost will eventually find itself redundant and rendered obsolete by some clever tech company. The black cabs, which most are familiar with, are in this boat.
As a consumer I am grateful I now have more choice, convenience at a better price point.
Why should I pay for a cabbie's skills that has them memorise all the local routes when someone using a clever traffic and GPS app can deliver the same result for less?
Tech is outpacing law makers and businesses will use grey areas until everyone else catches up.
What is the difference between an operator setting up their stall and offering flips or ferries and what Uber is doing?
Uber are using tech to make the process accessible to a broader base but aren't changing the dynamic.
Under your definition, every sight-seeing operator is offering scheduled flights, you would have to apply airline standards to every flight which would have a remarkable effect on cost.
Uber do these helicopter flights around the world, mostly for marketing. They aren't making the experience any more or less safe than it already is.
As a consumer I am grateful I now have more choice, convenience at a better price point.
Why should I pay for a cabbie's skills that has them memorise all the local routes when someone using a clever traffic and GPS app can deliver the same result for less?
Tech is outpacing law makers and businesses will use grey areas until everyone else catches up.
What is the difference between an operator setting up their stall and offering flips or ferries and what Uber is doing?
Uber are using tech to make the process accessible to a broader base but aren't changing the dynamic.
Under your definition, every sight-seeing operator is offering scheduled flights, you would have to apply airline standards to every flight which would have a remarkable effect on cost.
Uber do these helicopter flights around the world, mostly for marketing. They aren't making the experience any more or less safe than it already is.
Last edited by Bell_ringer; 8th Jun 2019 at 15:06.
