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	+ Home Search Aviation Systems		ATM-X UAM Visits Blade Urban Air Mobility October 25, 2022 Group photo at Blade with the Hudson River in the Background On October 13, 2022, members of NASA’s Air Traffic Management Exploration (ATM-X) Project’s Urban Air Mobility (UAM) Airspace Subproject visited the Blade Urban Air Mobility Headquarters in New York City. The UAM team was joined by the AAM Project’s National Campaign (NC) Integration of Automated Systems (IAS) lead, Adam Yingling and the NC Partner Demonstration Tech Lead, Gerrit Everson. The Blade founder and Chief Executive Officer, Robert S. Wiesenthal, opened the meeting with an overview of Blade and described potential future opportunities and challenges associated with electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs). Blade’s Chief Technology Officer, Brandon Keene, introduced members of Blade’s operations team and that facilitated a lively question and answer session with the NASA attendees. Since Blade is an indirect air carrier and the only operational UAM service provider, NASA gained valuable insight into current operational challenges and markets, and potential future challenges and markets associated with using eVTOLs that could not otherwise be gained. Currently, organ transport operations provide 55% of their operations while air taxi services to and from the Hamptons on Long Island are their most profitable. Blade offers airport transfers to and from the three major international airports in the New York City area. Key takeaways from this visit included: 1) quieter eVTOLs will provide opportunities for growth in areas that cannot be serviced today by noisy helicopters; 2) current and future NYC operations will need to make use of current infrastructure and helicopter routes for the foreseeable future; 3) Blade serves as an indirect air carrier and while unique, it is also intentional because it extracts Blade from the liability and insurance issues that the operator is responsible for; and 4) future NYC operations that use eVTOLs will need to integrate safely with current helicopter operations rather than replace current helicopter operations. Blade Founder and CEO, Rob Wiesenthal Pointing to Current Infrastructure along the Hudson River Airport Transfer Use Case. Taking off from the Hudson River Helipad to Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) Airport Transfer Use Case. View of Lower Manhattan Enroute to EWR Airport Transfer Use Case: Approach over EWR Airport transfer use-case. Arrival at Fixed Operating Base at EWR POC: Kevin Witzberger ATM-X UAM Team Members Visit the Helo Holdings, Inc. Heliport October 25, 2022 NASA UAM team members with HHI Heliport CEO, Jeff Hyman. On October 15, 2022, five members of the ATM-X Project’s UAM Subproject visited the Helo Holdings, Inc. Heliport (HHI Heliport) in Kearny, NJ. The UAM team met with Jeff Hyman, the Chief Executive Officer, and received a tour of the facility. HHI Heliport is a private, helicopter-only Fixed Based Operator and conducts an average of 90 operations a day in the busiest helicopter environment in the world. Helicopter on ground before Takeoff Showing a Commercial Airliner in Background. The HHI Heliport is a two-minute helicopter flight away from commonly used heliports in Manhattan. HHI Heliport’s location close to Manhattan, Newark Liberty International Airport, and several major distribution warehouses, which makes it an attractive location for future electric vertical takeoff and landing operations. Mr. Hyman discussed potential future facility expansion opportunities including notional graphical vertiport depictions. Challenges associated with the limited capacity of the electric grid were also discussed. As an experienced helicopter pilot, Mr. Hyman provided his insights into challenges associated with sharing landing and take-off resources for mixed helicopter and eVTOL operations. POC: Kevin Witzberger + Previous Highlights + Back to Top
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