News

As seen in the New York Post on Feb. 26, 2001

CAN'T AFFORD A WHIRLYBIRD? BUY A SHARE

By GARY DREVITCH

IF time is the ultimate asset, then the helicopter is surely the ultimate commute.

When you absolutely, positively have to get to headquarters in 12 minutes, a helicopter is the only way to go. And one of the best rides in the industry is the twin-engine Sikorsky S76. From the carpeting to the wood cabinetry to the leather seats in the large, open cabin, this is not your average traffic chopper.

The aircraft seats six passengers and two pilots, and buzzes along miles below commercial jets at speeds approaching 180 miles an hour while you have a drink and enjoy the ride.

The S76 also carries a sky-high price tag of $8 million. But even if you don't have that kind of seed money, you can still get a piece of this bird by purchasing fractional ownership through the Sikorsky Shares division.

Individuals and small companies that don't need full-time use of a copter can, for example, sign a five-year, $500,000 contract and become the owner of one-sixteenth of an S76 stationed at the Duchess County Airport in Wappingers Falls. Each fractional owner must also pay a monthly management fee, which amounts to about $7,500 per the one-sixteenth share and doubles as the size of the share doubles.

Each share buys the right to a specific number of flights in and out of New York City. The owner of a one-sixteenth share, for instance, is entitled to 75 trips to the Big Apple each year.

Sikorsky provides the pilots, maintenance, hangar services, gas, insurance, pretzels, coffee, and, most importantly, a guaranteed ride whenever you call, 24/7.

If your helicopter is carrying another fractional owner when you call, Sikorsky will dispatch a second but similarly well-appointed S76 from its own fleet.

That guarantee is crucial on summer Fridays, when other helicopter charters may be booked solid with flights to the Hamptons.

Sikorsky sales manager Kevin Platz said the S76 covers that Hamptons flight, easily two and a half hours by car on summer weekends, in about 35 minutes.

Atlantic City is less than 50 minutes away from the helipad in New York City. Two airports - JFK and LaGuardia - are each about five minutes by chopper, and most suburban points can be reached within 15 minutes.

At the end of the five-year contract, fliers have the option of selling their share back to Sikorsky for market value, after depreciation. But the company hopes that instead of cashing out, clients will get hooked on the convenience of helicopter travel and buy a bigger share instead.

Sikorsky also sells full ownership of helicopters, of course, with the same deal - all flight services provided for a monthly management fee.

Platz said his customer base is about half corporate and half individual. Many of the individual shareholders use the helicopter service as a taxi to get to work three or more days a week, he noted. Instead of a two-hour drive, they take a 10-minute flight.

Such customers just have to get themselves to a safe, legal touchdown point, which, depending on local regulations, could be a county airport, their own backyard or any large grass strip, Platz added. That's one of the big benefits of helicopter travel.

Of course, you don't have to own shares in a helicopter to fly in one. Several charter services serve Manhattan's three heliports - West 30th Street, East 34th Street and Wall Street. Through its AAG subsidiary, Sikorsky books on-demand charter flights on the S76 at a rate of $3,250 per hour.

Competing charters can book you on other helicopters for as little as $900 per hour, depending on the type of aircraft and the length of the trip. One place to call is Air Pegasus, the private company that operates the West 30th Street heliport and can connect fliers with charter services that zip gamblers to Atlantic City, golfers to Westchester or wedding parties to suburban chapels.

Helicopter travel has long been seen as a leading economic indicator, thriving in boom times, thirsting during busts. The industry has done well through the recent boom, but some corporations have already cut back on helicopter perks in response to the slowing economy.

"We get a fairly good sense of what's happening in the economic community by which corporation is doing what on each day," said Jay McGowan, manager of the Port Authority's downtown heliport, which logged 27,296 takeoffs and landings in 2000.

The West 30th Street heliport, the only one open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, sees as much as three times the traffic of the downtown heliport. The business is seasonal, however - slow in the winter and peaking during summer weekends, as executives zip off to their country homes. In those hot months, the local heliports can resemble a scene out of "M*A*S*H."

Clearly, Sikorsky and other carriers hope that one flight will get passengers hooked on helicopter travel. Do you have the bug? Try this test: Book your next trip to the Hamptons. While you're in the air, you may find yourself fighting the urge to dial a friend's car phone to tell her how slow the traffic is moving on the LIE.