Delta's 5-Minute Helicopter to JFK
Getting from Manhattan to New York's JFK Airport can take well over an hour when traffic is heavy. Delta Air Lines has now teamed up with helicopter company BLADE to offer selected passengers a dramatically faster alternative: a flight from Manhattan to JFK that takes around five minutes.
For most airline passengers, getting to the airport remains one of the least glamorous parts of travelling.
You may have booked a business-class seat.
You may have access to an airport lounge.
You may be travelling on one of the world's most sophisticated aircraft.
But first you have to reach the airport.
In New York, that can be particularly unpredictable.
Traffic between Manhattan and John F. Kennedy International Airport can turn a relatively straightforward journey into a lengthy battle through congested streets and expressways.
Delta Air Lines believes some of its passengers might prefer to fly over the problem instead.
The airline has announced a partnership with BLADE that will allow Delta customers to combine their commercial flight with a helicopter transfer between Manhattan and JFK.
And the journey through the air takes only around five minutes.
The attraction isn't difficult to understand.
JFK lies in Queens, approximately 15 miles from Midtown Manhattan.
That distance doesn't sound particularly intimidating.
The problem is traffic.
Journey times can vary dramatically depending on the time of day, weather, roadworks and congestion.
A passenger travelling to an important international flight therefore has to allow a substantial margin for delay.
Leave too late and a traffic jam could mean a missed flight.
Leave extremely early and the passenger may spend unnecessary hours sitting in the terminal.
A helicopter changes the calculation completely.
Instead of travelling through the traffic, the passenger travels above it.
BLADE operates helicopter services from Manhattan heliports.
Under the new arrangement, Delta passengers will be able to use one of BLADE's Manhattan facilities before flying to JFK.
The helicopter portion of the journey takes approximately five minutes.
That is an extraordinary contrast with the road journey.
The objective isn't simply luxury.
It is predictability.
Road traffic can change from one minute to the next.
A helicopter journey isn't affected by a traffic accident on the Van Wyck Expressway.
For a passenger whose time is extremely valuable, that certainty may be worth paying for.
The partnership is particularly interesting because Delta isn't simply telling passengers where they can book a helicopter.
The airline is attempting to integrate the helicopter journey with the wider airport experience.
Passengers travelling from Manhattan begin at one of BLADE's three Manhattan heliport lounges.
After the short flight to JFK, a member of Delta's Elite Services team meets the passenger.
The passenger's luggage is collected.
Ground transportation then takes them from the helicopter to the appropriate departure terminal.
They receive assistance through the airport and expedited security processing before being escorted towards their Delta flight.
The idea is to make the transition between helicopter and airliner feel like a single premium journey rather than two unrelated bookings.
The service isn't limited to passengers leaving New York.
Delta customers arriving at JFK can use the process in reverse.
For domestic arrivals, a Delta Elite Services representative can meet the passenger as they leave the aircraft.
International passengers first have to complete the required immigration and customs procedures.
Once those formalities are complete and luggage has been collected, the passenger can be escorted towards the waiting helicopter.
Then comes the five-minute flight into Manhattan.
For someone arriving after a long transatlantic journey, avoiding a lengthy road transfer could be particularly attractive.
The partnership has obvious relevance to travellers flying between London and New York.
Delta specifically identifies passengers arriving on its transatlantic services from London as potential users of the helicopter connection.
Imagine the journey.
A passenger boards an overnight flight in London.
Several hours later, the aircraft lands at JFK.
They clear US immigration and collect their luggage.
Instead of joining the road traffic into Manhattan, they transfer to a helicopter.
Minutes later they are flying above New York towards the city.
For a time-sensitive business traveller, it represents a very different airport arrival experience.
Naturally, this isn't intended to compete with the subway on price.
Contemporary BLADE pricing puts a scheduled Manhattan-JFK helicopter seat at around $195 per passenger.
BLADE also offers whole-helicopter services for passengers wanting greater flexibility.
The additional Delta airport escort service is priced separately, with reports putting the premium at $250 per reservation.
That makes this a premium airport-transfer product rather than mass transportation.
For a leisure traveller watching every dollar, it will be difficult to justify.
For a senior executive rushing to an important meeting, the calculation could be completely different.
BLADE is part aviation company and part technology business.
Rather than operating like a traditional airline, its model allows passengers to arrange short helicopter journeys through digital booking.
That has inevitably led to descriptions such as an “Uber for helicopters.”
The comparison isn't perfect, but it explains the concept.
Passengers use technology to access aircraft capacity in much the same way smartphone apps have transformed ground transportation.
BLADE has become particularly associated with flights between New York and destinations such as the Hamptons.
Airport transportation is a logical extension.
Much has been written about smartphones transforming taxis and private hire.
But the same technology is beginning to change other parts of transportation.
Previously, arranging a helicopter charter sounded like something requiring telephone calls, aviation brokers and substantial advance planning.
Digital platforms make the process much simpler.
A passenger can see availability and arrange the journey using an app.
That reduces some of the friction traditionally associated with private aviation.
It doesn't make helicopter travel cheap.
But it can make it much easier to access.
Delta isn't buying a fleet of helicopters.
Instead, it is trying to improve the passenger's experience beyond the conventional boundaries of the airport.
Airlines traditionally concentrate on what happens between departure gate and arrival gate.
But premium passengers increasingly judge the complete journey.
How easy was it to reach the airport?
How long did security take?
Was the connection straightforward?
How quickly could they leave the destination airport?
A luxurious aircraft seat becomes slightly less impressive if the passenger spends two hours sitting in traffic afterwards.
Delta's partnership with BLADE attempts to solve that problem.
The helicopter partnership forms part of Delta's wider attempt to strengthen its position in New York.
The airline says it has invested more than $2 billion in the city's airports.
At JFK, Delta opened its $1.2 billion Terminal 4 development in 2013.
A further $200 million investment completed in 2015 added 11 gates and approximately 75,000 square feet of space, alongside improvements to passenger facilities.
Delta now operates hundreds of daily departures from JFK and LaGuardia.
For the airline, New York isn't simply another destination.
It is one of its most important markets.
Not every passenger values time in the same way.
Someone travelling on holiday may happily leave home an hour earlier to save hundreds of dollars.
A business traveller may see things differently.
Suppose an executive's time is worth hundreds of dollars per hour.
A road transfer taking 90 minutes suddenly becomes expensive in another sense.
If a helicopter can reduce a large portion of that transfer to five minutes, the fare may appear much more reasonable.
That is why premium airport transportation isn't always competing purely on price.
It is often selling time.
There are few cities where that argument works better than New York.
The city's congestion can be severe.
JFK's location means passengers travelling from Manhattan can encounter significant delays.
The problem becomes particularly frustrating because journey times are unpredictable.
A journey that takes 40 minutes on one occasion might take much longer on another.
Airport passengers therefore build additional time into their schedule.
The helicopter's greatest advantage may not be that it is fast.
It is that it can make the journey time more predictable.
There is an important qualification.
“Five minutes from Manhattan to JFK” sounds almost miraculous.
But that figure refers to the helicopter flight itself.
The passenger still needs to reach the Manhattan heliport.
They need to check in for the helicopter.
At JFK there is a transfer between the helicopter landing point and the airline terminal.
Security and other airport procedures still apply.
International arrivals still need to clear immigration and customs.
The true door-to-door journey therefore takes considerably longer than five minutes.
Even so, it can still be dramatically quicker than travelling the entire distance by road during heavy traffic.
Helicopters don't have the luggage capacity of a large airport-transfer vehicle.
That creates another important difference.
A business traveller with one small suitcase may be ideally suited to the service.
A family returning from a two-week holiday with several large cases may not be.
Weight and baggage restrictions are important in helicopter operations.
Passengers therefore need to check what they can take before assuming the helicopter will work for their journey.
This is one area where conventional road transport retains a substantial advantage.
Traffic jams don't affect helicopters.
Weather does.
Poor visibility, strong winds and other conditions can disrupt helicopter operations.
That means the service cannot offer absolute certainty.
A passenger relying on a helicopter to reach an international flight needs to understand what happens if weather prevents the aircraft from operating.
Ground transport remains an essential backup.
That illustrates an important principle of airport transfers: every form of transport has vulnerabilities.
Cars have congestion.
Trains can suffer disruption.
Helicopters have weather restrictions.
The idea of flying between Manhattan and New York's airports isn't entirely new.
Helicopter services have existed in various forms for decades.
New York Airways famously operated passenger helicopter services connecting Manhattan with the city's airports during the twentieth century.
Other airlines have experimented with similar arrangements.
Delta itself has previously been associated with helicopter airport-transfer services.
What is different today is the technology surrounding the booking and the attempt to integrate the journey with modern airline premium services.
The helicopter isn't new.
The digital passenger experience is.
The most interesting part of the Delta partnership may therefore be the handover.
Normally, the passenger arranges their airport transportation independently.
The taxi driver drops them outside the terminal.
From that moment, the airline takes over.
Delta is attempting to blur that boundary.
The passenger is met from the helicopter.
Luggage is handled.
Ground transport is coordinated.
Airport procedures are expedited.
The customer is accompanied towards their commercial flight.
It starts to resemble the experience associated with private aviation while still connecting with a scheduled airline service.
If the partnership proves popular, competitors will certainly be watching.
Airlines compete intensely for high-value passengers.
Business-class travellers can choose between multiple carriers on important routes.
The aircraft themselves are increasingly similar in capability.
That encourages airlines to differentiate themselves through the wider experience.
Lounges. Chauffeur services. Fast-track security. Dedicated check-in. Airport escorts.
And now, potentially, helicopters.
The competition no longer begins when the passenger boards the aircraft.
Premium ground transportation isn't a new airline concept.
Some international airlines provide chauffeur-driven cars for eligible premium passengers.
The logic is similar.
The airline wants control over more of the customer's journey.
A passenger collected from their home and delivered to the airport experiences the airline before entering the terminal.
Delta and BLADE are taking the concept to a more dramatic level.
Instead of chauffeuring the passenger through traffic, they fly over it.
The obvious question for British travellers is whether a similar service could work here.
London certainly has the traffic.
A road journey between Central London and Heathrow can vary significantly depending on congestion.
The same is true of Gatwick, Stansted and Luton.
A helicopter could potentially reduce journey times dramatically.
But London presents its own complications.
Airspace is tightly controlled.
Suitable landing sites are limited.
Operating costs are high.
Noise is politically sensitive.
And London already has extensive rail connections to several airports.
London does have a major facility for helicopter passengers.
The London Heliport at Battersea provides access to the capital for private and commercial helicopter operations.
From there, a passenger can continue by road into central London.
In theory, helicopter airport transfers could therefore form part of London's premium transportation market.
Whether they could achieve the frequency and economics of the New York service is another question.
Heathrow is one of the world's busiest international airports.
It also serves a large premium passenger market.
London-New York is one of the world's most important business travel corridors.
That means some of the passengers using Delta and BLADE in New York could begin or end their wider journey at Heathrow.
Imagine the complete premium itinerary: a car to Heathrow, a transatlantic business-class flight, an airport escort at JFK, then a helicopter into Manhattan.
For wealthy and time-sensitive travellers, the appeal is obvious.
London Heathrow already has something JFK lacks: a fast direct airport railway into the city.
Heathrow Express connects the airport with Paddington in around 15 minutes.
The Piccadilly line provides a much cheaper alternative.
That makes the economic argument for a helicopter less compelling for some passengers.
New York passengers don't currently have an equivalent one-seat express railway directly from JFK into Manhattan.
The AirTrain connects with the wider rail and subway network, but an interchange is required.
New York's ground-transport problem therefore creates particularly favourable conditions for BLADE.
Gatwick is another example.
Although much farther from Central London than Heathrow, Gatwick has extensive rail services.
Passengers can travel directly to several London stations.
Again, a helicopter might be faster.
But the railway can carry hundreds of passengers at once and operates at a fraction of the cost.
Helicopter transfers are therefore unlikely to challenge mass airport rail transportation.
They occupy a completely different market.
That may be the bigger story.
Airport passengers increasingly have more choices.
Public transport remains essential.
Taxis remain important.
Private hire continues to grow.
Smartphone apps have changed booking.
Premium chauffeur services serve business travellers.
And companies such as BLADE are demonstrating that short-distance aviation can become another part of the mix.
The future of airport transportation may therefore involve more options rather than one technology replacing everything else.
For all the excitement surrounding a five-minute helicopter flight, conventional airport transfers retain several important strengths.
A car can collect the passenger directly from their home or hotel.
There is no need to travel to a heliport first.
Large vehicles can carry families and substantial luggage.
A driver can provide assistance.
Road transport operates in weather conditions that may ground helicopters.
And it is available to a much wider range of passengers.
Most importantly, it can provide genuine door-to-door service.
This is the fairest way to compare transport.
Not flight time.
Not train time.
Not driving time between two selected points.
Door-to-door time.
A five-minute helicopter flight may be extraordinary.
But if reaching the heliport takes 25 minutes and the transfer at the airport takes another 20, the real journey is longer.
Likewise, a 15-minute airport train is only truly 15 minutes if the passenger begins and ends their journey at the two railway stations.
Airport passengers should therefore consider the complete journey rather than the headline travel time.
For families, the calculation is particularly different.
Imagine two adults and three children.
Several suitcases.
Hand luggage.
Perhaps a pushchair.
Moving everyone through a heliport and complying with helicopter baggage restrictions may be considerably less convenient than booking one suitable road vehicle.
The fastest transport isn't always the easiest transport.
That is why airport transfer markets contain so many different services.
For the right passenger, however, Delta and BLADE's proposition is difficult to ignore.
A senior executive travelling alone.
One small suitcase.
An important meeting in Manhattan.
A flight arriving during rush hour.
That is almost the perfect customer.
Instead of watching New York traffic from the back of a car, the passenger can watch it from above.
The value isn't the novelty of flying in a helicopter.
It is arriving sooner.
Today's helicopters are expensive, noisy and operationally demanding.
But aviation companies are already examining new types of aircraft that could eventually make short urban flights cheaper and quieter.
Electric propulsion may one day change the economics.
Aircraft capable of vertical take-off and landing could potentially connect airports with urban landing sites.
If that happens, the Delta-BLADE partnership might eventually look like an early version of something much larger.
For now, however, this remains an exclusive service aimed primarily at premium passengers.
Airport transfers have traditionally been thought of as a ground-transport problem.
Delta and BLADE are challenging that assumption.
Why sit in traffic on the way to an aircraft when another aircraft can take you there?
For most passengers, the answer will still be price.
A train, taxi or private hire vehicle will remain considerably more practical.
But for travellers who place an exceptionally high value on their time, the proposition is compelling.
Five minutes above New York could be worth far more than an hour or two spent on the road.
And that may be exactly the market Delta and BLADE are trying to capture.
New York's new helicopter connection demonstrates how important the journey to and from the airport has become as part of the overall passenger experience.
London passengers also have a wide choice of airport transportation.
Rail services can be fast and economical.
London black cabs provide immediate taxi services from airport ranks.
And pre-booked private hire offers direct door-to-door transportation.
London Airport Transfer provides pre-booked private hire journeys to and from Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton and London City Airport, including Central London journeys, hotel transfers, residential pickups and airport-to-airport connections.
For many passengers, the principal advantage of a pre-booked road transfer is that the vehicle comes directly to them.
There is no need to reach a railway station or heliport before beginning the airport journey.
That can be particularly useful for families, groups and passengers carrying several pieces of luggage.
Airport transfers also involve more than driving.
Flights can arrive early or late.
Immigration times vary.
Baggage reclaim can be unpredictable.
International passengers may be unfamiliar with the terminal.
A properly arranged airport collection needs to account for those variables.
Helicopters may represent the ultimate way to avoid traffic, but conventional private hire remains the more practical door-to-door option for the overwhelming majority of passengers.
Delta and BLADE's five-minute Manhattan-JFK service nevertheless provides a fascinating glimpse of how far premium airport transportation can go when saving time becomes more important than saving money.
Written by London Airport Transfer for passengers travelling to and from London airports.