At the National Business Aviation Association-Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition (NBAA-BACE) in Las Vegas, Supernal said it will work with FBO network Clay Lacy Aviation to prepare the latter’s sites for eVTOL air taxis. Separately, the manufacturer signed a deal with Blade Urban Air Mobility with an eye toward refining and creating hypothetical routes for its flagship design.

Supernal’s SA-2, unveiled in January, is designed for a pilot to fly as many as four passengers in urban areas such as Miami or Los Angeles, the firm’s planned launch markets. Taking off vertically like a helicopter but cruising on fixed wings, it will have an initial range of about 60 sm (52 nm) and cruise at 120 mph (104 knots) at around 1,500 feet agl. The aircraft’s zero-emission and low-noise operation is another key selling point.

At NBAA-BACE from Tuesday to Thursday, Supernal will take attendees into a virtual reality space at Henderson Executive Airport (KHND) to give them an idea of the flying experience both for pilots and passengers.

The manufacturer at the event also announced a collaboration with Clay Lacy Aviation, its first official FBO partner, that will prepare the firm’s locations for eVTOL aircraft.

The strategy of working with FBOs to electrify their terminals is not uncommon in the nascent eVTOL space. Clay Lacy—the lone FBO accredited by the NBAA as a Sustainable Flight Department for its use of environmentally friendly infrastructure—is also installing infrastructure for eVTOL manufacturers Joby Aviation and Overair, for example.

Joby, Archer Aviation, Beta Technologies, and Lilium have similar arrangements with Atlantic Aviation. Archer and Beta are further working with another FBO network, Signature Aviation.

“Availability of infrastructure will be critical to scaling the AAM industry, and this partnership is the latest step in ensuring the ecosystem is thoughtfully designed for future commercial eVTOL operators,” said Diana Cooper, chief partnerships and policy officer for Supernal.

The manufacturer’s five-year agreement with Clay Lacy Aviation will focus on how to integrate eVTOL into existing airport operations, namely by devising standards and procedures for ground handling, battery management, and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO). Supernal will further assist Clay Lacy Aviation with the installation of power and charging systems.

The partners will initially focus on the FBO network’s sites at Orange County Airport (KSNA) and Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) in Southern California, where Supernal plans to launch near the end of the decade. Later on, they will take what they have learned from those locations to prepare Clay Lacy Aviation’s broader network.

“Supernal and Clay Lacy share strong commitments to sustainable aviation, safe and efficient operations and a superior passenger experience that benefits the communities we serve,” said Scott Cutshall, president of real estate and sustainability for Clay Lacy Aviation.

Cutshall and Cooper on Wednesday will discuss how FBOs more broadly can prepare for electric air taxis on a NBAA-BACE panel that also includes representatives from Joby, Beta, and the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

Separately, Supernal announced a three-year partnership with Blade, an operator of primarily helicopters that offers private, on-demand flights in New York City and a few other markets.

The partners will create hypothetical New York City routes to plan for air taxi, organ transplant transport, and other future eVTOL services. They will also look for “advantageous commercial arrangements in geographies of mutual interest”—such as a network in Southern California that combines Supernal’s eVTOL and Blade’s air charter broker platform.

“Our goal is to make aviation more accessible by preparing to adopt eVTOL aircraft,” said Melissa Tomkiel, president and general counsel of Blade. “In combining Blade’s expertise with Supernal’s forward-thinking innovations, this partnership is poised to accelerate AAM development and enable quiet, safe, and emission-free transportation.”

Supernal will help guide Blade’s plans to launch an AAM offering with technical and operational support. Blade in return will provide feedback on Supernal’s aircraft design, safety, passenger comfort, and potential to operate across multiple markets.

“It is critical we collaborate with experienced commercial partners like Blade to ensure our eVTOL’s cabin features align with passenger expectations for comfort, safety and efficiency in the next generation of inter-city mobility,” said David Rottblatt, senior director of strategy and commercialization at Supernal.

A Supernal-Blade network could fly passengers and cargo between Blade terminals at heliports and airports. At NBAA-BACE, for example, Blade is offering private helicopter flights between Henderson Executive Airport and the Las Vegas Convention Center, providing a glimpse of what a Supernal eVTOL route may look like.

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Helijet International Inc. on Tuesday announced that it placed firm orders for Beta Technologies’ Alia-250 electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi, becoming the first Canadian air carrier to purchase such a design. Helijet, Beta’s first commercial customer in Canada, also expects to be the first air carrier to offer eVTOL passenger and cargo services in the country.

The British Columbia-based firm claims to be the largest and longest-standing helicopter airline in North America. As far as scheduled passenger helicopter airlines go, Helijet and New York City-based Blade Urban Air Mobility are the only major regional players. In 2021, Blade partnered with Helijet’s booking platform to expand into Canada.

Once Beta’s Alia is certified and delivered, Helijet plans to add the aircraft to its existing fleet, which is composed of Eurocopter AS350 B2s, Sikorsky S76s, Learjet 31As, and Pilatus PC-12s.

How Helijet Will Deploy Alia

Though there are similarities between helicopters and eVTOL designs—the most obvious being the ability to take off and land vertically—Alia doesn’t quite match the performance of the aforementioned models. Its 50-foot wingspan is similar. But its 250 nm range and 100 knot cruise speed are more restrictive. However, Beta’s design is expected to be 90 percent quieter than comparable helicopters.

Alia will be integrated into Helijet’s passenger transport operations in southwest British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest, offering sustainable, quiet flights for a pilot and up to five passengers at a time. Beta and Helijet claim these trips will cost less than current helicopter flights, making them particularly valuable to rural or remote communities lacking convenient air services.

The eVTOL aircraft are also expected to bolster Helijet’s emergency response, air ambulance, and organ transfer services in Canada’s Lower Mainland region.

Over the past two years, the helicopter airline has shortlisted three eVTOL manufacturers building aircraft designed to fit into advanced air mobility (AAM) ecosystems. Though Beta will be its first supplier, the company will continue to evaluate orders for other nominated designs.

Helijet selected Alia in part due to Beta’s plan to certify the aircraft for IFR operations. The firm is also interested in growing its industrial base in Canada, where Beta in March opened an engineering and research and development hub at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport (CYUL).

Beta also has a partnership with Canada’s CAE, a large training OEM and provider of flight simulators, to develop pilot and maintenance technician training programs for Alia. Rival eVTOL manufacturer Joby Aviation has a similar agreement.

“With its mature air travel market demographic and existing challenges for conventional transportation between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, southern B.C. provides an exciting opportunity to demonstrate the commercial viability and environmental sustainability of AAM in B.C. and Canada,” said JR Hammond, executive director of Canadian Advanced Air Mobility (CAAM), the country’s national AAM consortium, of which Helijet is a founding member.

Citing a 2020 white paper from Nexa Advisors, another member of the CAAM consortium, Helijet and Beta estimate that, over the next 15 to 20 years, the Greater Vancouver area has the potential to serve 4.2 million passengers using eVTOL aircraft. That could translate to about $1.5 billion (2.1 million Canadian dollars) in new AAM business activity.

To support those aims, Helijet is leading the development of a commercial vertiport at its downtown Vancouver waterfront heliport. The site is planned to be an intermodal transportation hub, connecting AAM passengers with road, marine, air, and rail access throughout the region.

“This provincial government recognizes the potential of advanced air mobility to decarbonize the aviation sector, improve regional connectivity, improve emergency response times and introduce new manufacturing opportunities in our province,” said British Columbia Premier David Eby, who attended the announcement of the deal at Helijet’s Victoria Harbour Heliport (CBF7).

Alia’s Flight Path

Per Tuesday’s announcement, Alia is in “advanced flight standards development” and on track for commercial certification in 2026, one year after Beta’s eCTOL (electric conventional takeoff and landing) variant is expected to be approved. Shortly after, it will be available for private and commercial service.

Beta so far has conducted eVTOL evaluation flights with the FAA, U.S. Air Force, and U.S. Army. The aircraft has completed multiple thousand-mile-plus jaunts across the U.S., the most recent of which saw it travel more than 1,500 nm across 12 states en route to Duke Field (KEGI), a military airport at Florida’s Eglin Air Force Base. Beta also delivered an electric aircraft charging station to Eglin in September, the first to arrive on an Air Force base.

Alia’s flight from the company’s home field in Plattsburgh, New York, to Eglin represented Beta’s first eVTOL delivery to a contracted partner. Just weeks earlier, the firm’s eCTOL completed a cross-border flight from Plattsburgh to Montreal, marking the first time a battery-utilizing electric aircraft landed in the city.

“Between our growing engineering hub in Montreal, our first cross-border flight to the region earlier this year, and the support we’ve received from the government and regulators across Canada, we look forward to continuing to grow our presence in the country,” said Kyle Clark, founder and CEO of Beta.

In addition to Helijet, Beta has Alia purchase orders from UPS, Blade, Bristow Group, LCI Aviation, United Therapeutics, and Air New Zealand, and the aircraft are expected to fulfill a variety of use cases. However, Beta plans to target cargo and medical delivery and military and defense missions before transporting passengers, per Tuesday’s announcement.

Earlier this month, the company opened a 188,500-square-foot final assembly plant at Vermont’s Burlington International Airport (KBTV), which it says is the first such operational facility for electric aircraft in the U.S. Beta also claims the site is the largest net-zero manufacturing plant east of the Mississippi River.

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Blade on Wednesday reported earnings for the second quarter of 2023, posting revenue growth in nearly every segment of its business. But the company continues to lose money as it juggles passenger transport, medical delivery, and the slower-than-expected integration of its Europewide network, announced in April.

Total revenue rose 71 percent year over year to $61 million, a figure that would fall to 42.3 percent had Blade owned its Europe business during the same period last year. But losses widened about 45 percent to $12 million, offsetting any gains.

The Financials

Blade’s flight profit was up 103 percent year over year, hitting $10.4 million on the back of improved growth and profitability in its U.S. short distance and MediMobility Organ Transport businesses, as well as contribution from the European segment.

The firm is also making more money from each flight. Flight margin improved from 14.3 percent in Q2 2022 to 17 percent this past quarter, largely because of a higher average flight profit margin in the European business and the use of more dedicated aircraft for MediMobility, which lowered operating costs. Improved pricing and volume in its by-the-seat Airport Transfer service in New York and falling spot market jet charter costs also contributed to improved margins.

The company’s short distance offering—which charters 10 to 100 sm (8.7 to 87 nm) passenger flights primarily on helicopters and amphibious seaplanes—saw revenue climb 75 percent year over year to $19.2 million, largely from the U.S. segment.

That includes Blade Airport, which grew revenue by 65 percent and became the fastest-growing product in the company’s passenger segment. It saw increases in seats flown and average revenue per seat. Its longest-running route between Manhattan and John F. Kennedy International Airport (KJFK) was also profitable on a flight-profit basis for the first time.

In May, Blade agreed to revitalize and operate the Newport Helistop (91NJ) in Jersey City, New Jersey, where it is considering adding a by-the-seat service between the Helistop and New York City-area airfields. Already, it has launched a pilot program for charter flights.

However, the passenger business was bogged down by Blade’s Jet and Other segment. It saw revenue hold firm at around $7.4 million, with an increase in jet charter volume offset by a decline in the average price per trip. 

In total, passenger revenue grew 44.6 percent to $26.6 million.

“In our passenger business, we saw strong volume and pricing growth in the Northeast, particularly for our five-minute helicopter transfers between Manhattan and New York-area airports,” said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade.

MediMobility accounted for the rest of Blade’s gains, raking in a record $34.4 million in revenue—nearly double that of a year ago. New transplant center customers, growth among existing customers, and strong market demand helped it post high-water marks.

In April, the service completed a record-breaking heart transplant mission, transporting a donor heart and doctors more than 2,500 nm from Juneau, Alaska, to Boston. It was the longest distance a donor heart has traveled for a transplant.

“Blade’s record performance this quarter illustrates the value proposition of our diversified business model,” said Wiesenthal. “In MediMobility, we continue to benefit from new organ preservation technologies that are expanding the market, as well as the addition of a number of new transplant center and organ procurement organizations.”

However, net losses continue to balance out revenue. Blade attributed the figure to an unfavorable change in the fair value of warrant liabilities, which created an additional $2.5 million in losses. That’s compared to favorable accounting that reduced losses by $19.3 million a year ago.

But another culprit may be the integration of the Europe business, which is “moving slower than we planned,” Wiesenthal wrote in a letter to shareholders. That delay has increased operating costs. At the same time, the normalization of travel patterns from last year’s highs has hampered demand.

All of this has kept Blade from achieving net positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). That figure improved 28 percent to negative-$4.4 million as medical adjusted EBITDA outpaced the passenger segment. However, it did outpace revenue growth, which signals the potential for profitability down the line.

Blade ended the quarter with zero debt and $170 million in cash and short-term securities.

The Outlook

While still unprofitable, Blade continued to improve its business in Q2 and is bullish on its future.

“We expect that continued growth and cost efficiencies will lead to further year-over-year improvement in adjusted EBITDA in the second half of the year,” said Will Heyburn, CFO of Blade.

Further, the company expects sequential improvements to flight profit and margins in Q3.

Blade is particularly optimistic about the organ transport market, which it views as a sleeping giant. Because a portion of its Q2 revenue came from one facility it had been supporting temporarily, the firm anticipates flat growth in the medical segment next quarter. But single-digit gains should return in Q4, and the segment is on track to deliver double-digit annual growth.

“We believe [organ transport] is a megatrend that is in the early innings and could support multiple years of above-trend market growth, which is consistent with what we are seeing both in public data and amongst our own customers,” Wiesenthal wrote to shareholders.

On the passenger side, Blade sees Airport as the key segment. But it also expects Blade Europe to be a long-term revenue driver for the business, citing southern Europe as one of the world’s top consumer helicopter markets. In June, Blade and Embraer air taxi subsidiary Eve Air Mobility agreed to integrate the latter’s aircraft into the former’s European routes, beginning with France.

Looking further out, Blade received a boost from the FAA Innovate28 plan for advanced air mobility (AAM) integration. The document calls for early AAM operations, such as Blade’s planned eVTOL service, to rely on existing infrastructure. And the company already has its own.

“This approach validates Blade’s unique strategy, focused on our exclusive Blade terminals at existing heliports and airports in the most active air mobility corridors operating around the world today,” said Melissa Tomkiel, president of Blade. “As a result, Blade is best positioned to enable the gradual transition of today’s air mobility fliers from helicopters to [eVTOL].”

As it continues to post losses, Blade is unlikely to launch its eVTOL service before dedicated AAM providers, such as Archer Aviation and Lilium, introduce their own. But with a network of vertiports and a footprint on either side of the Atlantic, Blade may be better positioned to capitalize on that market when the time is right.

“We are proud of the work the team did to deliver an outstanding second quarter, and we look forward to building on this momentum in the second half of the year,” Wiesenthal concluded the Q2 shareholder letter. “As always, we remain laser-focused on driving profitable growth, innovation, and delivering exceptional performance for our customers and our shareholders.”

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Soaring over Westchester County Airport (KHPN) in White Plains, New York, was Beta Technologies’ ALIA-250 eVTOL aircraft, part of a flight test between Beta and partner Blade Air Mobility (NASDAQ: BLDE) as the latter looks to transition to an air taxi service.

But those aircraft are still a few years away from entering service. In the meantime, Blade is focused on the here and now. The company last week released financials for the first quarter of 2023 that reflected solid growth in its medical transport services—and a potential runway for growth in chartered, passenger-carrying helicopter services.

“We are making exceptional progress on all fronts, resulting in our seventh consecutive quarter with financial results ahead of our expectations,” Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal said in a statement.

Blade’s total first-quarter revenue was $45.3 million. That’s an increase of 70 percent year over year attributable mostly to its MediMobility Organ Transplant service, which received a massive boost after the firm’s 2021 acquisition of Trinity Air Medical.

The company’s medical segment brought in $26.8 million for the quarter, rising 111 percent annually and 24 percent over the previous quarter. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), meanwhile, rose from just less than $1 million last year to around $1.9 million this quarter. It attributed those gains to new hospital wins, growth with existing clients, and market factors.

Specifically, Blade sees tailwinds from organ preservation technology, which will increase the number of organs available for transplant and the distance they can travel—and, by extension, Blade’s revenue per mission.

“We continue to demonstrate our unique value proposition in medical through the addition of new customers, while supporting added volume and transport distances amongst our existing customer base,” Wiesenthal said.

In April, for example, Blade delivered lungs from organ donors in Alaska to recipients on the East and West coasts, something it said wouldn’t have been possible a few years ago. Because of those factors, the company told shareholders it expects the segment to see continued sequential growth.

Medical was also the main driver of Blade’s flight profit. Rising 145 percent year over year to $7.2 million, the figure outpaced growth in revenue and adjusted corporate expense, which improved the firm’s adjusted EBITDA margin by nearly 1,200 basis points. That means its operating profit is rising as a percentage of revenue, which bodes well for future growth.

“We expect this trend to continue in the coming quarters, resulting in year-over-year adjusted EBITDA improvement through the balance of the year,” said Blade CFO Will Heyburn. “Our resilient, flexible, and diversified business model, coupled with our strong liquidity position, puts us in a unique position to thrive in any macroenvironment.”

While MediMobility rakes it in, the firm’s passenger segment has experienced less success. It saw revenue growth of 32.6 percent annually to $18.5 million, with seats flown also rising 54.4 percent. But these trips have a lower margin than the firm’s medical deliveries, which widened the segment’s adjusted EBITDA loss slightly to $3.1 million.

According to the company’s first-quarter shareholder letter, losses were primarily the result of its Blade Europe segment, launched last year. Its performance was slightly weaker than anticipated, owing to poor weather, longer-than-expected delays in aircraft maintenance, and an unusually warm winter ski season.

However, Blade said it will have plenty of capacity for Europe’s upcoming peak season. It also launched a new by-the-seat helicopter service and marketing campaign that it expects will expand trip volume in the region.

Losses in the passenger segment were also due in part to a 17.2 percent decline in revenue in the Jet and Other segment, which focuses on long-range flights. But Blade saw that coming following a normalization in jet charter volume, and the losses were partially offset by growth in the Canadian business segment, which enjoyed revenue growth of 65 percent annually.

While the passenger business is still not profitable, there are a few promising growth indicators. Blade’s revenue from short-distance trips grew a whopping 148 percent yearly, mainly because of the firm’s acquisitions in Europe and revenue growth in Canada.

But another key factor was Blade Airport, the company’s helicopter charter service that flies passengers between two “lounges” at existing heliports in Manhattan and nearby airports. The service saw 96 percent year-over-year revenue growth, a 70 percent rise in seats flown and a double-digit increase in average revenue per seat.

That’s crucial because Blade Airport is the company’s self-described “most accessible” offering, with tickets starting at $195. It’s Blade’s “big bet” for customer acquisition, and encouragingly, the Airport segment saw a 46 percent increase in first-time passengers this quarter. The firm is also selling more premium subscriptions for the service, and it expects growth to continue.

“In [the passenger segment], our No. 1 focus remains driving the business to profitability, providing our investors with an asset-light, manufacturer-agnostic play on urban air mobility that is without peer and well-positioned to generate free cash flow, while standing ready to benefit from broader adoption with the commercialization of electric vertical aircraft,” Wiesenthal explained.

Looking ahead, Blade at the end of the first quarter had about $176 million in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments on hand. The company considers its liquidity position to be strong and is looking to use it.

“We remain confident in our tangible and forthcoming path to profitability, and as a result, we continue to expect that a significant amount of this liquidity will be available for strategic acquisitions,” Wiesenthal wrote to shareholders.

The firm is also encouraged by acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen’s recent comments about the air taxi industry, which the agency will support with new plans, guidelines, and standards. After Nolen departs this summer, Blade expects his successor to pick up where he left off.

Still, the firm will need to wait on certification of Beta’s ALIA-250—and any other aircraft it plans to use—before launching air taxis. But for now the company is focused on today.

“While EVA will enable exponential growth and enhance our return profile, we are not waiting idly for their arrival,” wrote Wiesenthal. “Instead, we remain laser-focused on deploying our capital in a manner that generates attractive returns today, while increasing the long-term intrinsic value of our business for the future.”

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Aviation advocacy groups including the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) and the Helicopter Association International (HAI) are calling on their members and others to contact New York Governor Kathy Hochul and urge her to veto the bill, which has passed in both houses of the state legislature.

“HAI is urging all New York members to contact Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office immediately to oppose a bill that would allow any person to bring an action against a helicopter owner and operator for creating an ‘unreasonable level’ of noise,” the helicopter association said in a statement.

“Senate Bill S7493A would allow anyone to sue a pilot, flight department, line service personnel, or company employee for alleged rotorcraft noise pollution by a flight operation in the state of New York even if the operation complied with federal law and regulations,” the HAI added.

Efforts to restrict or ban helicopters are not new to New York, especially in city boroughs like Manhattan and Brooklyn where people have long complained about the sound of low-flying helicopters making commuter, tourism, and airport-shuttle flights. 

• READ MORE: Blade to Become Largest Helicopter Passenger Service in Europe

Complaints have risen in the last few years in part because the growth of on-demand helicopter travel services—like Blade Air Mobility—has increased traffic. More people are also working from home, where they hear a lot more outside noise than they would in sound-insulated office buildings.

In the past it has been difficult for some city officials and politicians to lash out against an industry that serves tourism, business travel, and other markets that drive New York’s economic growth and upscale image. Today, demand for urban helicopter transport is especially strong, and many new companies are working toward launching eVTOL operations that would add significantly to rotorcraft traffic.

• READ MORE: Archer, United Plan Route Between Newark Airport, New York

“In New York, the general aviation industry is responsible for 43,200 jobs and more than $8.6 billion in total economic output,” said Brittany Davies, NBAA’s Northeast regional director. “This bill has a negative impact that reaches across New York and beyond, and we need the governor to recognize the true implications,” she added.

The governor has until December 23 to sign or veto the bill.

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Lincoln Restler, a council member who represents the Brooklyn Heights and Greenpoint sections of Brooklyn, introduced the legislation with backing from colleagues representing parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Many of these districts are near the East River corridor that air service flights frequently use when taking customers to area airports, the Hamptons on Long Island, and other popular destinations.

“There are approx 4,000 nonessential helicopter flights over NYC monthly by Uber, Blade, and tourism companies. It’s disruptive to our communities and bad for our environment.

That’s why we’re introducing a bill to ban nonessential helicopter flights,” Restler tweeted.

There are approx 4,000 non-essential helicopter flights over NYC monthly by Uber, Blade & tourism companies.

It’s disruptive to our communities & bad for our environment. 

That’s why we’re introducing a bill to ban non-essential helicopter flights. https://t.co/3jBAujJjnk

— Lincoln Restler (@LincolnRestler) June 16, 2022

City residents have long complained about helicopter noise, but the intensity of complaints has increased in the past several years as flights have become more widely available through ride-sharing apps and other electronic booking platforms. The buzz of choppers overhead, which residents report as “unrelenting” in some areas, has also led to an adversarial “us vs. them” sentiment that resonates in headlines and political discussions.

Similar noise complaints are at the root of a conflict that could eventually result in the closure of East Hampton Airport (KJPX), long a hub of operations for air-taxi services. In that case, the town moved to convert the public airport to private use, which would require pilots to obtain permission before landing. New rules would also limit the number of commercial flights at the airport. Air transport services, airport businesses, and pilot groups sued the town and the issue is currently in litigation.

Depending on the outcome of that litigation, it could also have a significant impact on the many companies planning to launch electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the coming years.

While passage of the council bill, closure of the East Hampton airport—or both—would hurt air-taxi operations, transport companies would still be able to operate from alternate facilities, including the West 30th Street Heliport (KJRA) that is not city-owned, Montauk Airport (KMTP), and Southampton Heliport (87N).

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On its earnings call Monday, Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal said that despite the comparable negative earnings of $4.7 million for the fiscal year, their bullish growth strategy and $305 million in cash and short-term investment puts them in a good position.

“We remain extremely well-capitalized to continue this strong execution on our growth strategy, both organically and through acquisition, given our debt-free balance sheet with cash and short-term investments,” Wiesenthal said.

Despite news of looming lockdowns resulting from the spread of the new Omicron variant and questions from analysts about expansion plans, Wiesental said the company had not seen any negative impact on their business. Furthermore, he said that they would continue to add to their airport capacity in 2022.

“Given that we are the only aviation company with mandatory vaccination requirements, which we began to be enforced on September 7, our passengers are not only all vaccinated, they were the first to be boosted as well. 

“Simply put, our fliers do not view Omicron as a death sentence,” Wiesenthal said.

Meanwhile, in a statement, Will Heyburn, Blade’s chief financial officer, pointed out that the company’s short-distance business achieved 90 percent of pre-COVID revenues during the fourth quarter.

Key Performance Indicators

• Q4 revenue increased to $20 million, growing 144 percent compared to Q4 2020 and 28 percent compared to Q4 2019.

• For the 2021 fiscal year, revenue increased to $50.5 million, a 116 percent jump over 2020, and a 62 percent increase over 2019.

• Revenues decreased 10.4 percent to $13.4 million for Q4, for its “Short Distance (60 to 100 nm) Business,” comparing 2021 and 2019.  

• Overall year-end revenues decreased 14.5 percent from 2019 to $22.2 million, which Blade attributed to the decline in weekend commutes.

• Organ Transport & Jet business grew 50 percent to $6.6 million in Q4 from increasing customer enrollment and increasing trip volume per customer for its hospital and jet charter offerings. 

• Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $3.2 million and $8.8 million for the quarter and year-end respectively, which the company attributes to new recurring expenses from its change to becoming a public company.

• Annualized run-rate of passengers at 20,000 people, which it says matches pre-COVID levels.

Recent Highlights and Updates

• The company celebrated its SPAC-IPO in May. Blade doesn’t own or operate any aircraft. Rather, through its platform that consists of a mobile app, website, and flier relation team, Blade coordinates an ecosystem of operator partners who provide aircraft, pilots, maintenance, insurance, and fuel while Blade focuses on booking and aggregating passengers. “We are serving these customers and using our infrastructure today with conventional aircraft, building market share, expanding product offerings, and strengthening our brand while preparing for a seamless transition to EVA, once these aircraft are certified for public use,” Wiesenthal said.

• Earlier this month, Blade announced that it entered into a $12 million partnership through 2026 with Helijet International, North America’s largest scheduled helicopter airline for exclusive rights to offer scheduled helicopter flights operated by Helijet, and to use passenger terminals at heliports controlled by Pacific Heliport Services (PHS) in Canada. Along with its other acquisition of Trinity Air Medical, the infrastructure accretion puts Blade in a position to be the largest urban air mobility service in North America.

• Since its initial offering, Blade’s stock has traded largely between $7 and $11 per share, with a $600 million market cap.

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