travel went from loud and ruggedly dangerous to disarmingly smooth, quiet, and sophisticated—at least at the highest end of the market. Years of design and engineering improvements have imbued modern business choppers with levels of safety, luxury, and speed that make them increasingly viable alternatives to fixed-wing aircraft. And when Covid hit, the corporate whirlybird became even more appealing.
“On the heels of the pandemic, customers found helicopters to be the most private way to travel, skipping airport terminals or FBOs altogether,” says a spokesperson for. The numbers bear this out: While a total of 27 corporate helicopters across manufacturers were delivered to U.S. customers in 2020, that number had nearly doubled to 50 just two years later.