A little change of course over the Strip

Tuesday, Oct. 6, 1998 | 11:31 a.m.

Four Las Vegas helicopter tour operators are no longer flying directly over the Strip. Noise complaints from hotel-casinos prompted them to fly higher and just east and west of Las Vegas Boulevard.

Representatives of Las Vegas Helicopters, Heli USA Inc., Sundance Helicopters and Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters signed a letter of agreement placing the center line of the route over Koval Lane to the east and Interstate 15 to the west. In addition, the companies agreed to fly 800 feet above the ground although they are cleared to fly just 300 feet high.

The deal was first reported by the Las Vegas 1 24-hour news channel.

Tour operators don't expect the revised routes to hurt business.

"This is nothing new to us," said Gerald Schlesinger, owner and operator of Las Vegas Helicopters, the Strip-based company with a helipad off Harmon Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. "The visibility is just as good along the new route. In fact, it may be better. When you go down the middle of the Strip, you have to look directly down on the street."

The new pattern, designed as a noise-abatement measure, took effect Sept. 27 and has the blessing of the local office of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Nigel Turner, chief executive officer of Heli-USA, the largest helicopter company based at McCarran International Airport's executive air terminal, said the helicopter operators meet monthly to discuss safety issues and problems of mutual concern.

Turner said the companies determined they could improve routes, safety in the skies and be more neighborly by adjusting their flight patterns.

"Some of the operators had heard of concerns from the resorts about noise and we simply decided to take care of it ourselves before we were told to do something," Turner said.

Possibly the company with the most to lose with the new route is Papillon, which operates a nine-passenger Sikorsky S55QT helicopter with a glass floor -- perfect for flying directly over an attraction. But even general manager Rick Carrick concurs the new routes are best for the industry, the hotels and the tourists.

"There's no point in flying low over a hotel," Carrick said. "At the times we fly, we could wake someone up. And if we thought for a moment that passengers weren't getting their money's worth on this tour, we'd do something else."

Carrick said the operators are hoping to head off noise problems and that as far as safety is concerned, the helicopters used along the Strip are the most reliable in the world.

The 30-minute Strip flights range in price from $45 to $70 and helicopter tour operators have capitalized on the Southern Nevada wedding industry by promoting in-flight marriages conducted in the skies above Las Vegas.

In addition to modifying Strip routes, helicopter companies also promised to stay out of the airspace around the Bellagio hotel-casino when the property opens Oct. 15.

"We routinely volunteer to stay away from certain events, outdoor concerts, that type of thing," Carrick said. "I can't speak for the other companies, but I think most of us have agreed to stay away from the Bellagio on the night that it opens. It's not really on our route anyway."

Carrick said while the tour operators have agreed to stay away from Bellagio, there are no guarantees that news helicopters flown by three local television stations would do the same.

"There's also the helicopters flown in support of Metro police," Carrick said. "Generally, we stay out of their way and they stay out of ours."