Your next Uber ride could be in a helicopter
Uber is a great service. Pick up your phone, open the app, and request a car — you’ll have a ride in 5 minutes, and not with a super expensive bill to eat. But if you’re bored of automobile vehicles meant for traversing roads, Uber could be cooking up a partnership to let you take to the skies.
Airbus revealed to The Wall Street Journal that they and Uber are partnering up to test helicopter rides. Uber won’t have a fleet of helicopters and accompanying certified pilots to fly them, natch. Instead, ordering through Uber would let you get a ride to the Airbus pickup point, and Airbus will take you to a drop point near your final destination. We imagine Uber could then drive you from the drop point to your actual destination, if you want.
We’re not sure how useful this would be for the majority public, but imagine a Milwaukee native like myself wanting to go to Chicago and not wanting to drive or take the bus. It’d be cool, fun and I’d save a lot more time than having to hit the highway. Or maybe you just want to be whisked around the city in style and the limo is a bit too cliche for your tastes.
It won’t be cheap, though. Uber’s early testing for helicopter rides reportedly cost no less than hundreds, and could even stretch into the thousands mark depending on distance. It’s certainly not something you’d want to do every day unless you’re super rich (but if that’s the case we imagine you could afford to charter your own helicopter and pilot to begin with). Would you pay that much money just to say you’ve done it? Perhaps an inexpensive helicopter tour around your favorite city is more appropriate if all you’re looking for is the thrill of it. Let us know either way in the comments ahead.