A helicopter service for the rich has just been sold out of a shuttle pass between the Hamptons and Manhattan in September, suggesting that many of the rich who fled the city in the pandemic plan to stay in the Hamptons for the fall.
Blade, the chopper and mobility company, announced a special “Hamptons Commuter Pass” last week, offering daily helicopter flights between the Hamptons and New York City. For a one-time membership fee of $ 965, customers can get flights for $ 295 each way. Typically, the flights cost $ 795.
Typically, Blade’s business falls to and from the Hamptons in September by 80%, as Hamptonites return to their jobs and live in the city. But Blade’s promotion in September sold out of all 250 spots in less than 24 hours.
“We were very surprised,” said Rob Wiesenthal, CEO of Blade. “This is a signal that people are planning to stay out of it.”
The question addresses one of the central questions facing New York this fall – how many of the hundreds of thousands of rich and wealthy New Yorkers who left the city in March plan to return? With businesses continuing with remote work programs, and with many private schools offering hybrid classes as remote options, many families packing up the Hamptons, Connecticut, Westchester and the Hudson Valley will continue to fall through the fall. continue as they make rapid journeys to the city.
The shift has reversed the usual commuting patterns of wealthy New York. Rather than settling in the city, with occasional trips to the beach as a second home, families plan to visit the city two to three days a week and then return to their homes with more space, gardens and activities for their children.
“The whole pattern is suddenly flapped,” Wiesenthal said. “Our model went from a weekend business for people living in the city to a seven-day or five-day business of people living in the Hamptons and going to the city.”
Wiesenthal said that based on the ongoing demand for the shuttle pass Blade is adding more helicopters to the route and reopening the program to more customers. He said 80% of buyers of shuttle passes had never flown on Blade before. He said general business this summer was less than last year because Hamptonites stayed on the beach and did not return to the city.
The shuttle program began after customers began calling the company in recent weeks to ask for lower price as more frequent options for shuttling to the city and back. Many had children two or three days a week children in school, or they had to be in the office one or two days. A few plans to commute daily with chopper so they can return to their families in the Hamptons every day.
Wiesenthal said that although 250 people are not a large number for Manhattan, they are nevertheless the largest spenders, and will not support their usual restaurants, retailers and services in the city at a time when small businesses need the most help. He said that when Blade surveyed new customers about why they would not return to the city, they indicated schools, teleworking and the increasing crime rates in the city.
“Crime was number one,” he said.
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