So I was going through Google’s newspaper archives yesterday when I came across an ad for TWA Airlines in the September 30, 1966 edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Link
[QUOTE=TWA Airlines]
If you’re counting minutes, count on TWA. We have 10 non-stop jets a day to New York-plus NYA helicopters that whisk you into town. No traffic, no confusion, just a great view.
[/QUOTE]
But then it gets really eye-popping…
[QUOTE=TWA Airlines]
And the 'copter fares have been reduced for TWA domestic passengers: just $5 to Wall Street, $5.50 to Midtown.
[/QUOTE]
Anybody have any clue how long this service lasted and how long it stayed so cheap? Obviously TWA was heavily subsidizing the helicopter service (they don’t mention the cost of their Pittsburgh-NYC fares in the ad, notably) but it still seems ridiculously cheap. Were TWA and Pan Am and the ilk of the time in engaged in a helicopter service war in the New York market?
http://www.newyorkhelicopter.com/airport-transfers/
From: any of the 3 airports (Newark, La Guardia, [del]Idlewild[/del] JFK]
To: any of three heliports in lower Manhattan
Time: 8-12 minutes
Price: $800 per person
I remember back in the 60s being able to helicopter from the Orange Show fairgrounds in San Bernardino into LAX for very little money. It had to be cheap, because my folks were schoolteachers. But I must have flown to and from LAX a dozen times or more as a kid.
Then they opened Ontario International and we just drove to the airport.
Cabs from JFK are at a flat rate of $45+tolls; with tip, you’re looking at something in the neighborhood of $60, from what I recall. I had thought that LGA was $35+tolls, but apparently not. Still, you’re looking at something like $45 into manhattan.
I can’t believe that was profitable for them. They’d bring in maybe 25 or 30 dollars per trip, and would be able to make 2, maybe 3 trips per hour. So $50-100 per hour, worth about $500 in today’s money give or take a hundred. Chartering a helicopter capable of carrying 5-6 passengers and their luggage nowadays would cost well over $1000/hour anywhere, but especially in a market like NYC.
My guess is they had one helicopter making the route, and reservations were first-come, first serve. So of the thousand or so people who flew into NYC on TWA, a lucky dozen or so would actually be able to fly into Manhattan at $5 a pop.
I have no doubt this was a loss leader for TWA, a status service to differentiate themselves from Pan Am or Eastern or United or whoever else was flying into JFK and/or LaGuardia in the mid 60s (though perhaps they all had their own helicopter arms at the time). Certainly a far cry from the bare bones world of domestic airlines nowadays.
Would be interesting to know the “real” per person cost of those flights at the time and how it compares to the $800 it costs today. From the sounds of the ad, Mr. Arthur Pembrokeshireton, Esq., noted English business executive jetting in from London for his Wall Street meeting, had to pay more than $5 to get on the same helicopter…
Remember that this was the time before airline fares were deregulated, so that flying was expensive (and more comfortable). My mother remembers the food being much better even in coach class, and they gave small gifts to the passengers, like playing cards and such. I have no idea what the airfare was from Pittsburgh to New York, but I’d guess $4-500, which is the current equivalent of maybe $2,500. So TWA could certainly afford to subsidize the helicopter ride, assuming that the five bucks didn’t cover the cost.
Thanks for the Wiki link guys. I’m sure Pan Am advertisements didn’t say “Midtown” but rather “Pan Am Building”. 23 flights out of the Pan Am terminal at JFK, only 5 out of the TWA’s. And given that the initial fare was only $4.50 in 1955, perhaps $5 wasn’t too far off the actual ticket counter price in 1966.
23 flights out of the Pan Am terminal at JFK, only 5 out of the TWA’s. And given that the initial fare was only $4.50 in 1955, perhaps $5 wasn’t too far off the actual ticket counter price in 1966.