WATCH: A 6-Minute Heli Ride to the Airport for the Cost of a Cab? Yes, You Can!

I felt like a baller. And I hate using the word baller. But there is simply no other way to explain it. Who takes helicopters to the airport? Rock stars. Oscar winners. Real estate tycoons. Christian Grey…and me. Me! I was taking a helicopter to the airport.

(Photo: Gotham Air)

The flight time for my first ride on a Gotham Air helicopter from the Wall Street pier to John F. Kennedy International Airport was expected to be six minutes. That’s less time than it would take me to finish a cup of coffee. Like I said, I felt like a baller.

Thankfully I’m not alone. The Gotham Air CEO Tim Hayes told me he feels the same way when he takes his own helicopters.

“Sometimes I feel a little guilty doing it,” he said. “It does feel like you’re big pimpin’. Who says, ‘I commute to work by helicopter?’” No one says that without expecting to be harangued behind their back as a pretentious jerk.

(Photo: Jo Piazza)

Except Gotham Air has made traveling to the airport by helicopter more affordable than you think so people may call you a pretentious jerk, but you can correct them in a very unpretentious way.

Related: Why You Should Take a Helicopter Tour of New York City

Hayes worked in the entertainment business for most of his career. Every so often he would have to book last-minute helicopter rides to the airport for talent. Each time he did the bill would run well into the thousands of dollars for a ride that lasted less than ten minutes.

“It got me thinking. Why should corporate robber barons and rock stars be the only ones who can take a helicopter to the airport,” Hayes said. “I just wanted to see if there was another way.”

He began checking out New York City’s helicopter companies and settled on Helicopter Flight Services. He called them up and told them that he wanted to try to find a way to make airport commute rides affordable. They told him he was crazy, but took a meeting any way.

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One of the biggest expenses for chartering a helicopter is the wait time. You’re paying big bucks for a pilot to sit around and wait for someone to need to fly. The price of the aircraft and the fuel is constant.

“I did the math and figured out that if they are running all day then we could drop the price way down,” Hayes said. So he began with a crowd-sourcing model. You can go onto the Gotham Air site to request a flight. As soon as three other people have joined that flight the ride to the airport is confirmed. A flight can take six people. Reservations opened last week on the company’s beta site.

The site is very well optimized for mobile and it is actually more user-friendly to book on the mobile version of the site.

Hayes estimates that it will take about 30-45 days to reach scale on reservations. There is obviously a weight limit on how much luggage you can bring. I was told that I could bring two pieces of luggage at 25 lbs a piece.

Related: Uber Now Offering Helicopter Rides to the Hamptons

So who are the customers? Hayes was surprised about that. He assumed that almost all of the customers would be business travelers who would replace town car service with a helicopter ride.

Gotham is offering all rides at $99 for the next three weeks. After that prices will range from $99 to $219. So far it hasn’t just been the business traveler. Hayes has seen a group of women heading to Las Vegas for a bachelorette party who wanted to ride in style and a couple heading off on their honeymoon. “It’s a premium product, but we don’t think it is that much of a reach, especially for business travelers,” Hayes said.

(Photo: Gotham Air)

The typical cab Uber ride to JFK from Manhattan costs just over $100. During rush hour that ride can take more than two hours. I’ve missed two flights sitting on the highway. The helicopter ride takes 6 minutes to fly to JFK from the pier at Wall Street.

When you’re used to the slog through the Midtown Tunnel or over the 59th Street Bridge followed by the starts and stops of traffic along the Long Island Expressway and then the veritable parking lot of the Van Wyck, a helicopter ride feels like a dream. We lifted off easily from Wall Street and zipped across the icy East River and over the Columbia Street Waterfront, the Brooklyn Bridge looming in the background. Woodhaven melted into Jamaica.

It was over before we’d really had time to get comfortable, or take a decent selfie.

Granted this service is still at a high-price point when compared to the $20 it will take you to ride the Air Train. Still, if time is of the essence and money isn’t a concern, this is one smooth ride.

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