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Seaplanes arriving in and departing from Sag Harbor will use this float to transfer passengers. MICHAEL WRIGHT
Blade, the flight-booking service, which had been planning this week to launch regularly scheduled seaplane service between Sag Harbor and its facility on East 23rd Street in Manhattan, has been forced to put its plans on hold after a public outcry and a swift response from village officials.
A 30-second commercial showing happy passengers boarding a plane in New York and arriving in Sag Harbor, where they are ferried to Long Wharf in a speedboat, that appeared on YouTube and the company’s website was taken down Wednesday night.
In addition, language on the company’s website that advertised helicopter, jet and seaplane service to an “airport” in Sag Harbor that does not exist also has been removed.
On Thursday, Mayor Jim Larocca said Blade had agreed to cancel all flights it had scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Monday.
He added that Ken Deeg, who contracts with the village to run a launch service in the waters off Sag Harbor, has agreed to not pick up seaplane passengers from a floating platform that was installed earlier this year on a mooring at the far reaches of the village’s mooring field.
“We are in an active conversation,” the mayor said. “They have come forward in a cooperative spirit.”
Even though several scheduled flights failed to materialize following the Memorial Day weekend, Blade’s plans to begin regularly service between the village and New York City blew up when its ad was circulated among village officials and the public.
On Wednesday, Larocca said he was going to direct Village Attorney Elizabeth Vail to write a cease-and-desist letter to Blade and file a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration over what he called its false and misleading advertising that made it appear the village was supporting its service.
“It’s just one more unnecessary bit of conflict,” Larocca said. “They should have not characterized the village the way they did, or we wouldn’t have had to spend our time on this. I was amazed they didn’t check in before they did such a campaign.”
Trustee Aidan Corish, who was the first to raise the alarm about the Blade service, said on Thursday he was not sure what Blade’s decision really meant. “They are canceling a couple of days’ flights, as opposed to deciding to not fly at all,” he said. “It’s an immediate reaction. It’s a gesture.”
While the focus is on Blade, Corish said another company, Tailwind, has also been advertising scheduled flights between Sag Harbor and New York. A visit to the company’s website on Thursday afternoon showed flights scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. from the city to Sag Harbor on Friday, June 3, and return flights at 7:10 and 9:35 a.m. on Monday, June 3, for $895 each way.
The company has also advertised a 20-flight commuter package for $12,700, a savings of $5,200.
Corish said he wanted to see the village take a stand against all regularly scheduled commercial flights.
“I fail to see what’s the upside for the village,” he said. “It’s already an overcrowded village in the summer.”
It is unknown what arrangements Tailwind makes to ferry passengers to and from planes.
Blade officials said earlier this week that the company decided to add regularly scheduled service between Sag Harbor and Manhattan after East Hampton Town launched an effort to impose new flight restrictions at East Hampton Airport.
Stephen J. Kotz on Jun 2, 2022