Blade Air Mobility’s net losses narrowed by $700,000 to a negative $3.5 million, and revenue increased by 5.4% to $54.3 million in the first quarter, the company reported on Monday.
The aviation services provider posted an adjusted EBITDA of negative $1.2 million in the first quarter, but that marked a $2.3 million improvement from the same period a year ago. In its passenger segment, the company posted a first-quarter adjusted EBITDA profit of $100,000, the first time it had done so in the quarter since going public in 2021. That profit also marked a $2.7 million turnaround from a year earlier.
Excluding the Canadian market, where Blade exited last August, the company’s revenues improved year over year by 10.9% overall and by 42% in the passenger segment to $6.3 million. However, medical revenue declined by 0.2% to $35.9 million, and adjusted EBITDA slid by 7.1% to $4.1 million.
“Our strong passenger segment results reflect several factors, including our durable competitive positioning along with the important actions we’ve taken recently to improve profitability, such as our exit from Canada and broad-based cost rationalization initiatives,” said Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal. “I’m particularly encouraged by the results in Europe following our restructuring, which led to strong revenue growth and significantly improved profitability this quarter.”
CFO Will Heyburn added that the passenger segment faces the uncertain economy going forward, but is still expected to benefit from many of the cost-saving actions taken late last year.
“Having now completed a rapid period of aircraft acquisitions, we are focused on improving the operational and financial performance of the fleet,” said president Melissa Tomkiel. “Following a period of unusually heavy scheduled aircraft maintenance and associated downtime during the first half of 2025, we expect a significant improvement in the second half of the year through 2026, resulting in reduced capital expenditures and improved medical segment adjusted EBITDA margins.”