September 26, 2009
US Helicopter halts all service, NY airport transfers end
 US Helicopter, the financially struggling company that has been shuttling passengers from Manhattan to area airports since March 2006 for as little at $45, has “temporarily” halted all service, according to a statement on its website.
Notice of Temporary Service Interruption
We are temporarily halting all service as we regroup to add aircraft to our fleet and introduce new routes. This ‘standown’ of service applies to our scheduled flights as well as our charter service. We plan to return to the skies of New York - a bigger and better airline - by late November. For information on refunds for tickets you hold for future travel, please contact your credit card company for a credit or refund. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and we look forward to serving you again very soon with our 8 Minute Airport Shuttle.
In an interview with the New York Times on Friday, US Helicopter Senior Vice President Donal McSullivan said “There’s no bankruptcy here. We’re just getting our act together.”
In March 2006, US Helicopter opened for business with regular weekday shuttles between Kennedy Airport and the Downtown Heliport near Wall Street. It later added service to Newark Airport and a heliport at E. 34th Street. It also serves Connecticut and chartered routes. By June 2007, the company had an accumulated deficit of $20 million, according to its filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It was also behind on its rent payments at the Downtown Heliport, the New York Times reported in 2007.
By August 2007, the company’s public filing to the SEC warned “We have incurred substantial net operating losses and used substantial amounts of cash in our operating activities. Since our inception, we have incurred losses, have an accumulated deficit, and have experienced negative cash flows from operations. The expansion and development of our business will likely require additional capital. This condition raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.”
From November 2008, it was prohibited from using the Downtown Heliport for five months, in part due to financial reasons but mainly because the new operator of the heliport, First Flight, did not secure quick TSA re-certification for the site. The heliport requires certification from the Transportation Safety Administration so that helicopters are allowed to land on the secure sides of JFK and Newark airports. It also offers one of the great perks to US Helicopter passengers, the ability to go through security at the heliport and bypass airport security lines as long as they transfer to an airline in the same terminal used by US Helicopter. That was Continental at Newark and Delta at JFK. US Helicopter attempted, but was never able to offer service to LaGuardia Airport.
US Helicopter had been flying Sikorsky S76 helicopters to the airports on flights scheduled almost hourly on all weekdays except holidays. One-way prices were as high as $174.90, and as low as $45 if purchased in a package deal with one of its partner airlines. Separately, US Helicopter has frequently offered a $99 one-way special.
Helicopter transfers from Manhattan were first offered in the 1950s, according to Aviation Week, but ended as fuel prices were spiking combined with news of a fatal crash in Midtown.
On May 16, 1977, a New York Airways helicopter malfunctioned atop the Pan Am Building, killing four people waiting to board, as well as one person on the ground who was hit by helicopter debris. The company filed for bankruptcy in 1979.
US Helicopter’s safety has not been at issue. It was not involved of any of the high-profile crashes seen around Manhattan in recent years, including the fatal August Liberty Helicopter crash into the Hudson caused when it was hit by a small plane. The two non-fatal helicopter crashes into the East River in 2005 involved Helicopter Flight Services and Corporate Aviation Services.
Picture credit: US Helicopter landing at E. 34th St by Sam Meyer.
Earlier: US Helicopter resumes airport service from Wall St.
US Helicopter temporarily suspends all Wall St. flights
On the 8-minute $99 helicopter from JFK to Manhattan
$99-to-the-airport sale at struggling U.S. Helicopter
US Helicopter behind on rent at Wall Street heliport
US Helicopter swaps JFK partner to Delta from AA
Delays for US Helicopter’s LaGuardia shuttle service
New fast helicopter to JFK to include TSA checkpoint
September 26, 2009 6:56 AM in Arrivology, Out of Manhattan
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