Uber’s goal from the beginning has been to help people get from one place to another. They’ve already worked on improving driver experience, and offered scooters and bikes. Now, if you have the money to spend, you can get from Point A to Point B in an Uber helicopter. Currently, this option is only being offered in New York City, a place that could benefit from such a service more than the average consumer. Yet, there are plans to expand across the country really soon.
One person who tried the service said it was more of the experience of flying than actually being convenient. Still, the patron said it took 15 minutes longer to get to JFK airport than if she would’ve just taken an Uber. It was also three times more money. The reviewer did state the ride happened during a time when the streets weren’t so busy. That means if you had a flight to get to during rush hour, the helicopter would probably be the best option.
Uber isn’t just looking to expand this new service in the city. They even want to see how it will fare from getting between one suburb to another. That’s right, if you have a long commute across town, you will soon be able to take an Uber-copter. They want to make it more of an option for the high rollers and customers with money to spend.
So far, the cost of the ride through New York costs around $205. This price will vary depending on where you want to go. The reviewer stated the entire trip took about 55 minutes. That number includes the 19 minutes she spent in an Uber X car getting to and from the heliport. She found the experience to be just as much of a headache as driving and it didn’t even save her time. It wasn’t worth the $205 she spent.
Uber Trying to Turn Things Around
It hasn’t been a good few years for the ride-sharing company. They’ve experienced a record loss of profits and had to layoff drivers. That comes amid much scrutiny over Uber’s lack of security of drivers and passengers alike. Stock prices have dropped tremendously as well. That’s why Uber has been trying to update its methods and launch new products.
They’ve already extended the delivery scope by also adding food delivery to compete with DoorDash. They also launched a fleet of new cars, scooters, and bikes to give more variety. Still, Uber hopes that helicopter rides will be the first of many new flying adventures for the company. They want to one day replace the helicopters with flying cars without a driver.
“You can imagine Uber Copter is
[as]kind of being the first version of that future product — that is fundamentally what we think of as multimodal,” Eric Allison, head of Uber Elevate, said at the TWA Hotel. “Copter is not just about the air ride, but the overall journey. [We] can weave together our network of cars on the ground with the air vehicles; and in this case, the helicopter, so you can seamlessly transition from a car to the helicopter to a car to get you to the final destination. It’s completely sequenced and figured out by our technology behind the scenes.”
