Blade Air Mobility Inc

Business Overview

Blade Air Mobility, Inc. (“Blade” or the “Company”) provides air transportation and logistics for hospitals across the United States, where it is one of the largest transporters of human organs for transplant, and for passengers, with helicopter and fixed wing services primarily in the Northeast United States, Southern Europe and Western Canada. Based in New York City, Blade's asset-light model, coupled with its exclusive passenger terminal infrastructure and proprietary technologies, is designed to facilitate a seamless transition from helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to Electric Vertical Aircraft (“EVA” or “eVTOL”), enabling lower cost air mobility that is both quiet and emission-free.

Blade currently operates in three key product lines across our Passenger and Medical segments:

•Short Distance – Consisting primarily of helicopter and amphibious seaplane flights in the United States, Canada and Europe between 10 and 100 miles in distance. Flights are available for purchase both by-the-seat and on a full aircraft charter basis.

•Jet and Other – Consists principally of revenues from non-medical jet charter and by-the-seat jet flights between New York and South Florida, revenue from brand partners for exposure to Blade fliers and certain ground transportation services.

•MediMobility Organ Transport– Consisting primarily of transportation of human organs for transplant and/or the medical teams supporting these services. Blade also offers additional services including donor logistics coordination and support evaluating potential donor organs .

Our Business Model

Blade leverages an asset-light business model: we primarily utilize aircraft that are owned and/or operated by third-parties on Blade’s behalf. In these arrangements, pilots, maintenance, hangar, insurance, and fuel are all costs borne by our network of operators, which provide aircraft flight time to Blade at fixed hourly rates. This enables our operator partners to focus on training pilots, maintaining aircraft and flying, while we maintain the relationship with our customer from booking through flight arrival. For flights offered for sale by-the-seat, Blade schedules flights based on demand analysis and takes the economic risk of aggregating fliers to optimize flight profitability, providing predictable margins for our operators.

When utilizing third-party aircraft and/or aircraft operators, we typically pre-negotiate fixed hourly rates and flight times, paying only for flights actually flown, creating a predictable and flexible cost structure. Blade provides guaranteed flight commitments to some of our third-party operators through capacity purchase agreements, which enable Blade to ensure dedicated access to such aircraft with enhanced crew availability, lower costs and, in many cases, the ability to unlock more favorable rates when flying more than the minimum number of hours we guarantee to the operator. Additionally, a significant portion of Blade trips are flown by safety-vetted operators to whom Blade makes no commitments, providing us with additional flexible capacity for high demand periods.

We prioritize the use of dedicated aircraft under capacity purchase agreements, which provide better economics, but size our commitments significantly below our expected demand to limit the risk of a guarantee shortfall and then fulfill incremental demand through our network of non-dedicated operators. In 2023, approximately 46% of Blade’s flight costs were pursuant to capacity purchase agreements that included flight volume guarantees from Blade.

Blade’s proprietary “customer-to-cockpit” technology stack enables us to manage fliers and organ transports across numerous simultaneous flights with multiple operators around the world. We believe that this technology, which provides (i) real-time tracking of organ transports and passenger flights; (ii) profit/loss information on a flight-by-flight basis; (iii)

customized portals for all relevant parties including pilots, accounting teams, operator dispatch, transplant coordinators and Blade’s logistics team; and (iv) a customer-facing app for passenger missions, will enable us to continue to scale our business. This technology stack was built with future growth in mind and is designed to allow our platform to be easily scaled to accommodate, among other things, rapid increases in volume, new routes, new operators, broader flight schedules, international expansion, next-generation verticraft and ancillary services (e.g., last/first-mile ground connections, trip cancellation insurance, baggage delivery) through our mobile apps, website and cloud-based tools.

Our asset-light business model was developed to be scalable and profitable using conventional aircraft today while enabling a seamless transition to EVA, once they are certified for public use. We intend to leverage the expected lower operating costs of EVA versus helicopters to reduce the consumer’s price for our flights. Additionally, we expect the reduced noise footprint and zero carbon emission characteristics of EVA to allow for the development of new, vertical landing infrastructure (“vertiports”) in our existing and new markets.

Competition

In both our Short Distance and Jet and Other product lines, we compete primarily with Part 135 operators or brokers of helicopters, seaplanes and jets. In most cases, these operators offer only full aircraft charter and do not compete with our by-the-seat offerings. However, in certain instances other air carriers offer competing by-the-seat service. Additionally, we may compete with ground transportation, rail or ferry services that are typically lower cost, but generally involve longer journeys.

In some cases, aircraft operators are able to offer lower costs than Blade on a specific aircraft type. We compete primarily based on our technology-enabled service, dedicated infrastructure, and access to a wide variety of aircraft types, which can lower costs for our customers based on our ability to select the most appropriate aircraft for the requested distance and payload.

The urban air mobility industry is still developing and evolving, but we expect it to be highly competitive. Our potential future competitors may be able to devote greater resources to the development of their current and future technologies or the promotion and sale of their offerings, or offer lower prices. For example, some multimodal transportation providers and even commercial airlines have expressed interest in air mobility, and Uber Technologies, Inc. has a significant investment in a company that is developing EVA aircraft. Moreover, potential manufacturers of EVAs may choose to develop vertically integrated businesses, or they may contract with competing air mobility service providers rather than entering into operating contracts with us, which would be a threat to our Short Distance product line.

Our potential competitors also may establish cooperative or strategic relationships among themselves or with third parties, including regional or national helicopter or heliport operations that we rely on to offer our urban air mobility services, which may further enhance their resources and offerings. It is possible that domestic or foreign companies or governments, some with greater experience in the urban air mobility industry or greater financial resources than we possess, will seek to provide products or services that compete directly or indirectly with ours in the future. Any such foreign competitor could benefit from subsidies or other protective measures provided by its home country.

In our MediMobility Organ Transport product line, we compete primarily with Part 135 jet operators and a limited number of asset-light logistics businesses. We compete primarily based on our technology-enabled service and access to a wide variety of aircraft types, including helicopters, jets and turboprops, in many locations across the United States. This can lower costs for our customers based on our ability to select the most appropriate aircraft located in the most efficient area for the requested distance and payload.

The organ transportation industry is rapidly evolving as new technology for organ preservation is introduced. We believe new technology will benefit our business by increasing the overall supply of organs to be transplanted. However, some companies developing organ preservation technology now provide organ transportation services that compete with us, as well as additional services that we do not currently offer, such as surgical organ recovery, that our customers find valuable.

We believe our ability to compete successfully as a diversified air mobility company will depend on a number of factors, which may change in the future due to increased competition, including the price of our offerings, customer confidence in the safety of our offerings, customer satisfaction for the service we offer, and, for by-the-seat offerings, the routes, frequency of flights and availability of seats offered through our platform. If we are unable to compete successfully, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Human Capital Resources

As of December 31, 2023, we had a total of 281 employees, with 235 individuals working in our operations located in the United States and 46 employees in our operations based in Europe. Among these employees, we had 231 permanent employees and 50 temporary employees. None of our employees are represented by a labor union. We believe we have good relationships with our employees and have not experienced any interruptions of operations due to labor disagreements.

Government Regulation

Transportation and Aviation

United States. As an arranger of air travel and an indirect air carrier, we are subject to United States Department of Transportation (“DOT”) regulations governing our advertising and sale of by-the-seat air transportation as well as the advertising and sale of aircraft charter. We are also subject to DOT regulations relating to consumer protection matters such as unfair or deceptive practices, flier complaints and ticket refunding policies and practices. Our operators are subject to the laws and regulations relating to the operation and maintenance of aircraft promulgated by the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”). Further, as a transporter of organs for transplant, we are subject to DOT regulations relating to the transportation of organs for transplant. Because Blade does not currently operate aircraft, our business operations are not directly regulated by the FAA. Our ground transportation offerings are governed by applicable local, state and federal regulations and include (i) owned vehicles for our Medical segment, both with and without lights and sirens; and (ii) third-party owned and operated vehicles for use in both our Medical and Passenger segments.

Canada. Our Canadian operations are subject to strict regulations imposed by various Canadian government agencies, including Transport Canada and Nav Canada. These regulations impose restrictions on the way we conduct our business, as well as the activities of our third-party aircraft operators. Additionally, Transport Canada and Nav Canada regulations require specific disclosures to consumers and the filing of flight routes.

France and Monaco. Our French operations are subject to strict regulation by government agencies in the country, including the Direction Générale de l'Aviation Civile (“DGAC”) and the Autorité de la Concurrence. Our Monégasque operations are subject to a complex and constantly changing regulatory landscape governed by the Direction de l'Aviation Civile de Monaco.

India. The Indian Joint Venture’s operations are regulated by Indian government agencies, including the Airports Authority of India, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation.

Privacy and Data Protection

There are many requirements regarding the collection, use, transfer, security, storage, destruction, and other processing of personally identifiable information and other data relating to individuals. Because our technology platform is an integral aspect of our business, compliance with laws governing the use, collection, and processing of personal data is necessary for us to achieve our objective of continuously enhancing the user experience of our mobile application and marketing site.

We receive collect, store, process, transmit, share and use personal information, and other customer data, including health information, and we rely in part on third parties that are not directly under our control to manage certain of these operations and to receive, collect, store, process, transmit, share, and use such personal information, including payment information. A variety of federal, state, local, municipal, and foreign laws and regulations, as well as industry standards (such as the payment card industry standards) govern the collection, storage, processing, sharing, use, retention and security of this information, including the California Online Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act, the Telephone Protection and Electronic Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”), Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, and the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”). The failure to comply with such data protection and privacy regulations can result in fines, penalties, and the enforcement of any non-compliance, which could significantly impact our business operations.

In January 2020, CCPA took effect, which provides new data privacy rights for consumers in California and new operational requirements for companies doing business in California. Furthermore, on January 1, 2023, the California Privacy Rights Act (“CPRA”), which amended and expanded the CCPA, including by providing consumers with additional rights with respect to their personal information, took effect applying to information collected by businesses on or after January 1, 2022. However, enforcement of the CPRA will not begin until July 1, 2023 and enforcement will apply only to violations occurring on or after that date. We believe that the personal information we collect from California residents that use our app, the air transportation services we have offered in California in the past, and direct marketing to California residents for those services, as well as our plans to offer future services in California, have made and in the future will make Blade subject to compliance with CCPA and CPRA.

Moreover, as we offer and advertise our services in Europe, Canada, and Monaco and are subject to privacy regulations in these foreign jurisdictions. The European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”), as well as the Monégasque Data Protection Act (“DPA”) are known for their stringent requirements and can pose significant challenges for companies to comply with. The GDPR sets strict standards for the handling of personal data of individuals in the European Economic Area, and noncompliance can result in significant monetary penalties. In Canada, PIPEDA sets similar standards for protecting personal data and regulating its collection, use, and disclosure. In Monaco, the DPA provides similar protection for personal data and sets standards for the collection, use, and storage of personal information.

The GDPR imposes obligations on data controllers and data processors that have an establishment in the EU or are offering goods or services to, or monitoring the behavior of, individuals within the EU. The GDPR is wide-ranging in scope and imposes numerous requirements on companies that collect and further process personal data, including requirements relating to processing health and other sensitive data. The GDPR also imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data to countries outside the European Union, including the United States and the United Kingdom post-Brexit, and stipulates a regime of accountability for processors and controllers. Organizations may be required to appoint a data protection officer who reports to the highest level of management within the business. The GDPR permits data protection authorities to impose large penalties for violations of the GDPR, including potential fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global revenues of the undertaking, whichever is greater. The GDPR also confers a private right of action on data subjects and consumer associations to lodge complaints with supervisory authorities, seek judicial remedies, and obtain compensation for material and immaterial damages resulting from violations of the GDPR.

The CCPA, GDPR, and other similar regulations require companies to give specific types of notice and, in some cases, permit users to opt out of or obtain informed consent for the placement of a cookie or similar technologies on a user’s device for online tracking for behavioral advertising and other purposes and for direct electronic marketing, and the GDPR also imposes additional conditions in order to satisfy such consent, such as a prohibition on pre-checked tick boxes and bundled consents, thereby requiring users to affirmatively consent for a given purpose through separate tick boxes or other affirmative action.

Environmental

Our operators are subject to various federal, state and local laws relating to the protection of the environment, including the discharge or disposal of materials and chemicals and the regulation of aircraft noise, which laws are administered by numerous state and federal agencies. We seek representations of compliance with environmental laws from our operators.

Available Information

Our Annual Report on Form 10-K (Annual Report), Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statements and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), are available on the Investor Relations section of our website (https://ir.blade.com/) as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. We also make available through our website other reports filed with or furnished to the SEC under the Exchange Act, including reports filed by our officers and directors under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act. All of the information on our Investor Relations website is available to be viewed free of charge. The SEC maintains a website (https://www.sec.gov)

that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.

We routinely use the Investor Relations section of our website (https://ir.blade.com/), our corporate website (www.blade.com) and our X feed (@flybladenow) as channels of distribution to publish important information about Blade, including financial or other information that may be deemed material to investors. Information contained on our websites or social media channels is not part of this Annual Report or our other filings with the SEC. Except as specifically incorporated by reference into this document, information on these websites or social media channels is not part of this document.