Baltimore Helicopter Services (BHS), the point-to-point air transport company that operates out of Baltimore's Inner Harbor and serves the greater Washington region via Reagan National Airport, recently added a GPS system called SkyWeb to its fleet.
According to Jessie Bowling, director of sales and marketing for BHS, SkyWeb allows customers who use BHS greater precision in setting up transportation on either end of the journey. "Executives or administrative assistants are given a login code," Bowling explains. "They can track the helicopters, making it easier to arrange for car service [at either end]."
BHS serves the entire Northeast and Mid-Atlantic and has been operational since 2004. Operations in D.C. began in 2012, after a loosening of airspace restrictions enacted following 9/11.
According to Bowling, BHS saw an 80 percent increase in revenue in 2011 and continued growth in 2012. "We attribute that to the economy and to marketing aggressiveness," she explains. "We hope to continue that trend this year."
While BHS does offer city tours via helicopter and gives a motivated Romeo a stellar backdrop to propose to his beloved, the lion's share of its business is offering Fortune 500 executives and medium and large business owners "an extreme time saver," Bowling says. "We're a great business tool." Executives can shuttle investors to properties, or get to meetings quickly. A trip from D.C. to the Eastern Shore can take up to four hours by car, depending on traffic. BHS can have a client there in 30 minutes.
In addition to wanting to get clients to their destinations as quickly as possible, BHS also puts safety at the forefront of its business model. "We understand that the key to providing such a vital business tool to the D.C. area requires safety to be the core focus of our business," Bowling states. "Last year we were given the Gold Safety Rating by Aviation Research Group and we were awarded the Commercial Flying Safety Award by the National Business Aviation Association."
BHS rents by the hour, beginning at $1,800 per hour.
Allyson Jacob is a writer originally hailing from Cincinnati, Ohio, and is the Innovation and Job News editor for
Elevation DC. Her work has been featured in
The Cincinnati Enquirer and
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