Blade Air Mobility, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLDE, “Blade” or the “Company”), a technology-powered air mobility platform, announced financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022.

“Blade delivered another record quarter with exceptional performance across all business lines,” said Rob Wiesenthal, Blade’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our Short Distance business exceeded expectations, driven by higher pricing and improved utilization across our route network, which was further boosted by our acquisitions in Canada and Europe. We remain encouraged by the strong demand indicators we see across our consumer-facing businesses, which, combined with our continued share gains in recession-resistant MediMobility Organ Transport, gives us confidence in our ability to deliver profitable growth even amidst a more uncertain macroeconomic environment.”

“Our ability to take pricing in excess of inflation resulted in record Flight Profit this quarter, while our overall Corporate Expenses continue to shrink as a percentage of revenues, demonstrating Blade’s clear path to profitability,” said Will Heyburn, Blade’s Chief Financial Officer. “We also continue to drive operational efficiencies in our acquired businesses by deploying the Blade platform, as evidenced by this quarter’s 174% organic revenue growth in our MediMobility Organ Transport division, reflecting Trinity’s significantly accelerated expansion, post-acquisition.”

“With the closing of our Blade Europe acquisition on September 1, 2022, Blade is now the largest urban air mobility company operating across three continents. We look forward to deploying our brand, technology, and customer service in these geographies to further accelerate our growth and fortify Blade’s global presence,” said Melissa Tomkiel, Blade’s President. “We have also successfully diversified Blade’s business, with nearly half of our $133 million in trailing twelve month revenue coming from organ transportation, which benefits from multi-year customer contracts, low marketing costs and demand that is uncorrelated with the overall macroeconomic environment.”

Third Quarter Ended September 30, 2022 Financial Highlights

• Total revenue increased 125% to $45.7 million in the current quarter versus $20.3 million in the prior year period. On a pro forma basis, assuming Blade had owned Trinity, Blade Canada and Blade Europe in the comparable prior year period, revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022 would have increased 60% on a constant currency basis.
• Flight Profit increased 108% to $9.3 million in the current quarter versus $4.5 million in the prior year period, driven by growth in all business lines and stronger pricing in our Short Distance business.
• Flight Margin of 20.3% decreased versus 22.0% in the prior year period, as expected, driven primarily by outsized growth in MediMobility Organ Transport, which outpaced that of our other business lines. MediMobility Organ Transport tends to have lower Flight Margin versus our company average, but benefits from long-term customer contracts, no utilization risk, limited marketing costs and demand that is uncorrelated with the overall economic environment. This revenue mix impact was partially offset by stronger pricing in our Short Distance business.
• Short Distance revenue increased 52% to $20.4 million in the current quarter versus $13.4 million in the prior year period. Growth was driven by improved pricing and utilization across our route network, the closing of our acquisition of Blade Europe on September 1, 2022, our acquisition of Blade Canada, and growth in our Blade Airport service.
• MediMobility Organ Transport revenue increased 801% to $20.2 million in the current quarter versus $2.2 million in the prior year period, driven by Blade’s acquisition of Trinity in September 2021. Revenue increased 17% sequentially in Q3 2022 versus Q2 2022. On a pro forma basis, assuming Blade had owned Trinity in the prior year period, organic revenue growth in MediMobility Organ Transport would have been 174% versus the prior year period, driven by the acquisition of new hospital clients and continued growth with existing accounts.
• Jet and Other revenue increased 9% to $5.1 million in the current quarter versus $4.7 million in the prior year period driven primarily by an increase in the average price per jet charter trip.
• Net loss of $9.2 million in the quarter was roughly unchanged versus a net loss of $9.2 million in the prior year period.
• Adjusted EBITDA decreased to $(4.5) million in the current quarter from $(3.2) million in the prior year period, but improved as a percentage of revenues to (9.9)% in the current quarter from (15.5)% in the prior year period. The increased loss versus the prior year period is primarily attributable to additional corporate and recurring expenses related to Blade’s recent growth and expected future growth, partially offset by increased Flight Profit.

Business Highlights and Recent Updates

• Blade’s MediMobility Organ Transport division, which is the largest dedicated air transporter of human organs for transplant in the United States, continues to grow its client base with several new customer additions this quarter and is now serving a total of 67 transplant centers and organ procurement organizations.
• Blade Airport, offering service between Manhattan and both JFK and Newark Airports, has continued to show sequential improvements, achieving record revenues in October.
• On September 1, 2022, Blade completed the previously announced acquisitions of the asset-light commercial passenger transport activities of three urban air mobility operators in Europe for a total cash outlay of $48.1 million.
• Blade expanded our partnership with Eve Air Mobility, Embraer’s Electric Vertical Aircraft company, conducting Urban Air Mobility simulations using helicopters in both Chicago and India. Blade and Eve offered flights in Chicago this September and will be piloting service with Blade India in Bangalore this month. The partnership with Blade India also incorporates a non-binding order of up to 200 of Eve’s Electric Vertical Aircraft.
• On October 19, 2022, Melissa Tomkiel, Blade’s President, was appointed by the United States Transportation Department to the Federal Aviation Administration Advanced Aviation Advisory Committee, which provides advice on key Advanced Air Mobility and drone issues.

Conference Call

The Company will conduct a conference call starting at 4:30 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 9, 2022 to discuss the results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2022.

A live audio-only webcast of the call may be accessed from the Investors section of the Company’s website at https://ir.blade.com/. An archived replay of the call will be available on the Investor Relations section of the Company’s website for one year.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

Blade believes that the non-GAAP measures discussed below, viewed in addition to and not in lieu of our reported U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (“GAAP”) results, provide useful information to investors by providing a more focused measure of operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making. The non-GAAP measures presented herein may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies. Adjusted EBITDA, Flight Profit, Corporate Expenses, Adjusted Corporate Expenses and Pro forma revenue have been reconciled to the nearest GAAP measure in the tables within this press release.

Adjusted EBITDA – Blade reports Adjusted EBITDA, which is a non-GAAP financial measure. This measure excludes non-cash items or certain transactions that are not indicative of ongoing Company operating performance and / or items that management does not believe are reflective of our ongoing core operations (as shown in the table below).

Constant currency – The condensed consolidated interim financial statements included here are presented in U.S. dollars. However, Blade’s international operations give rise to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates. To neutralize foreign exchange impact and illustrate the underlying change in revenue from one year to the next, Blade has included results in constant currency. These are calculated by applying the current period exchange rates to local currency reported results for both the current and prior year which excludes any variances attributable to foreign exchange rate movements.

Flight Profit and Flight Margin – Blade defines Flight Profit as revenue less cost of revenue. Blade defines Flight Margin for a period as Flight Profit for the period divided by revenue for the same period.

Corporate Expenses and Adjusted Corporate Expenses – Blade defines Corporate Expenses as total operating expenses excluding cost of revenue. Blade defines Adjusted Corporate Expenses as Corporate Expenses excluding non-cash items or certain transactions that are not indicative of ongoing Company operating performance and / or items that management does not believe are reflective of our ongoing core operations (as shown in the table below).

Pro forma revenue – Blade uses pro forma financial information which include revenue from acquisitions as if they had been acquired in the commensurate period of the prior year. Pro forma change in revenue is calculated as the difference between the current reported revenue and the comparative period pro forma revenue. Management believes that discussing pro forma revenue contributes to the understanding of Blade’s performance and trends, because it allows for meaningful comparisons of the current year period to that of prior years.

For the full results, including financial statements click here.