At 7 a.m. weekdays, a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter lifts off the tarmac at Sikorsky Memorial Airport in Stratford en route to a downtown Manhattan heliport, before making connections to John F. Kennedy International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.
At $360, the U.S. Helicopter Corp. flight costs about as much as a connector from JFK or Newark to Orlando International Airport. For business people who must make meetings in Manhattan or beyond, however, it is a vacation next to sweating out traffic on Interstate 95.
The question might soon become how much longer they will have the option. As soaring fuel prices force airlines to strip itineraries, U.S. Helicopter is scrambling to raise cash to continue funding its operations beyond this time next year.
If that is not enough, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. rival Textron Inc. is attempting to get a court order barring the shuttle from using the U.S. Helicopter name, claiming it owns the rights to the trademark.
Founded in 2003 at Sikorsky Memorial Airport, U.S. Helicopter has its headquarters today at Downtown Manhattan Heliport.
The company originally envisioned several such shuttles in Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and other cities, as well as service to major tourist destinations in regions it would service, such as the Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos in eastern Connecticut.
In addition to avoiding traffic, the company touts swifter security lines that can save passengers time at JFK or Newark Liberty.
U.S. Helicopter also offers its helicopter for lease on a charter basis.
To date, U.S. Helicopter has flashed all the signals of an expansion-minded company. It recently inked a code-share agreement with Delta Air Lines, with the companies indicating the agreement will result in more efficient connections. And on its Web site, U.S. Helicopter touts a planned scheduled service to East Hampton at the eastern tip of Long Island.
In the first quarter, U.S. Helicopter nearly tripled sales to more than $800,000, but still piled up $2.5 million in losses, more than its total assets on March 31. The company”™s shares traded at 30 cents a share last week, a tenth of their value in April 2006.
Â
In a regulatory filing last week, U.S. Helicopter indicated it is attempting to raise needed capital to keep flying through this time next year, needing $30 million to maintain operations and meet lease and debt contracts.
The company has arranged backing from Kuwait financiers, a complex transaction due to U.S. Department of Transportation rules that prohibit foreign entities from owning more than a quarter of a U.S. airline”™s stock.
In response to the company”™s financial situation, senior executives took a 20 percent pay cut last year, including Jerry Murphy, U.S. Helicopter”™s CEO. Murphy previously led Northeast operations for Pan American World Airways, including its Pan Am helicopter shuttle in the New York area.
U.S. Helicopter”™s chairman is Dean Borgman, the former president of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford, which manufactures”™ the company”™s passenger helicopters.
Â
