BLADE takes air travel to new heights with Google Workspace

“No company flies more people in and out of city centers than Blade,” says Lee Gold, Blade’s Chief of Staff. “Our mission is to reduce the stress of traveling through affordable air travel and a commitment to exceptional service and hospitality. And Google Workspace helps us ensure our fliers’ journeys are smooth and enjoyable.”

Snapshot:

BLADE flies helicopters from Manhattan to New York area airports, seaplanes from New York City to nearby vacation spots, chartered jets to hundreds of cities internationally, and sightseeing tours of the Alps and the French Riviera. They are also the largest transporter of human organs for donation in the U.S. Their future plans include pioneering carbon-neutral electric vertical aircraft for short-distance business travel. 

BLADE uses Google Workspace to track flight, personnel, and passenger information. Real-time updates in Google Sheets, Calendar, and Docs help coordinate flights and keep BLADE’s global workforce in sync while providing affordable air travel and exceptional experiences for its fliers.

• BLADE flight experience teams use Workspace apps collaboratively to track mission-critical logistics like flight schedules and passenger manifests.

• At BLADE headquarters, they use Google Docs and Sheets to collaborate on press releases, marketing campaigns, and budgeting.

• Gemini in Sheets automates spreadsheet creation and saves hours of work.

Origin story

If you need to fly from San Jose to Shenzhen, Dallas to Dubai, or Columbus to Kinshasa, BLADE’s chartered private jets will get you there. Have a shorter trip in mind? Take a seaplane from Manhattan to your summer getaway in the Hamptons, or a five-minute BLADE helicopter ride from Manhattan to JFK airport. BLADE will even fly you from New York to MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, or to the rooftop of an Atlantic City casino if you’re feeling lucky at roulette.

And Google Workspace has become the backbone for BLADE’s operations, which are often mission-critical: BLADE is also the largest American transporter of human organs for transplant, serving 40 hospitals in 20 states coast to coast.

“Aviation is time-sensitive and relies on accurate logistics — especially when patient care is involved — so we all need access to the same critical information in real time,” explains Lee Gold, chief of staff at BLADE. The BLADE team uses Google Docs, Sheets, Calendar, and Chat to coordinate flights, manage staff schedules, discuss the needs of passengers awaiting flights in BLADE lounges, and for communications between headquarters and flier experience teams around the globe.

When collaboration is crucial, BLADE relies on Google Workspace

“We’re an international team, and there are a lot of fast-moving parts we all need to be aware of,” says Zoe Bazos, BLADE’s manager of brand partnerships and activations. “From marketing campaigns to flight operations, Google Workspace saves time, reduces stress, and enables the seamless collaboration required to make every trip a success for every passenger.”

While the BLADE team uses Docs and Sheets for real-time updates on the status and locations of passengers, crew, and aircraft, they also use it for more typical, business-related tasks like writing press releases and departmental budgeting.

“With Google Docs, our legal, business development, and marketing teams can all work on and review the same document simultaneously to make sure everyone’s input is recorded and acknowledged,” reports Bazos, “and then we can share the same document with outside partners if needed.”

AI takes flight at BLADE

Gold uses Sheets to ensure flight manifests and budget information is centralized so his team can see updates in real time, keeping them all aligned and organized. And Google Workspace AI is saving everyone time by helping them use Workspace apps more effectively.

For example, Gold recently used it to automate the creation of a complex, multifaceted table in Sheets. “Gemini in Sheets saved me hours of work and even provided suggestions on how to improve the spreadsheet by displaying the data more clearly. It helps me tackle and complete my day-to-day tasks more quickly.”

Bazos also appreciates Gemini’s fluency in other languages: The BLADE team uses it to translate emails between French and English. “Gemini allows us to collaborate confidently with our teams in France and Monaco, ensuring nothing gets lost in translation,” he notes.

And the new integration of Google AI into all Workspace Business and Enterprise plans is enabling BLADE to roll out Gemini more widely. “We’ve already seen the power of Gemini in streamlining workflows and enhancing communication,” Bazos observes. “Having AI capabilities throughout the company will help us further optimize internal processes and elevate our customers’ experience.” 

Precision scheduling provides airborne view of an astronomical marvel

Google Sheets and Calendar proved to be a powerful combination in the months leading up to April 8, 2024: the Great North American Solar Eclipse, when BLADE flew 21 planes with thrill-seeking eclipse hunters into the path of totality. “Our fliers got the closest look at the eclipse this side of the moon,” Gold says proudly.

In order to meet the demand, BLADE scheduled a mix of jet and turboprop airplanes almost hourly during the event. “Timing is everything during an eclipse, and by using real-time updates in Sheets and Calendar to coordinate the flights, we were able to give more than 50 passengers a literal front-row seat to this celestial event,” says Gold, whose customers were able to view the eclipse for longer than they could have while earthbound thanks to BLADE’s precision scheduling — with an assist from Google Workspace. “Google Workspace allowed us to be agile, collaborative, and move at the same fast pace as the business of air travel.”