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QUESTION

What is the rationale for allowing non-essential and tourism helicopter flights during the transition to electric helicopters?

1:20:13

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112 sec

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The council member asks about the economic rationale for including non-essential and tourism flights in the new RFP for helicopter operations, given noise and quality of life concerns.

The NYC Economic Development Corporation explains that allowing some conventional tour flights maintains revenue to support incentives for faster electric helicopter adoption.
Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technology is still new and perceived as risky for mandating fully electric operations immediately.
A transition period with some traditional flights is needed from a revenue perspective to fund the shift to electric helicopters.
The FAA is not expected to certify electric helicopters until around 2025.

Gale A. Brewer

1:20:13

What just so I understand, what is the purpose of having these tour flights.

1:20:17

What is it because you're afraid?

1:20:19

I know De Blasio used to tell me.

1:20:20

I tried with Bloomberg.

1:20:22

He had a helicopter, and he was a pilot.

1:20:24

So I gave up.

1:20:25

And then I tried I tried with De Blasio, and he told me that if we didn't have them in New York, meaning tourism and nonessential, everybody would go to New Jersey.

1:20:34

They're already in New Jersey.

1:20:35

So we have to work on the federal to get rid of New Jersey.

1:20:38

But it does seem to mean that we shouldn't be I don't understand the economic model, particularly if you have a new RFP that is giving you the kind of income you want.

1:20:48

Why you have to include the tourism and the non essential.

1:20:51

What is the economic input for that?

Jennifer Sun

1:20:53

So a rationale from an economic perspective is that as a cited as we are about EV toll technology.

1:21:01

It is still relatively new, and so it might be perceived as risky if we were to require EV toll only out of these operations.

1:21:12

And so recognizing that there need might need to be a transition from conventional helicopters to fully electric helicopters, maintaining some amount of tour flights, for example, allows that transition from a revenue perspective, meaning you maintain some revenue from traditional helicopters to then support incentives that then encourage the faster adoption of ev drugs.

Gale A. Brewer

1:21:37

You're you're just making New Yorkers crazy with this.

1:21:39

And and it's not everybody.

1:21:41

But and so I'm just suggesting that you really reconsider the tourism nonessential if there's a even if there's a period that you have to, would fossil fuel still being the main attraction or the main driver?

1:21:56

And I'm not even clear with the electric if they're completely quiet.

1:21:59

It seemed like they were, but I am not convinced.

1:22:02

Please reconsider this.

1:22:04

Thank you.

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