Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Revenue

v3.22.2.2
Revenue
 9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Revenue from Contract with Customer [Abstract]  
Revenue Revenue
Revenue Recognition
For Short Distance revenue, seats or monthly or annual flight passes are typically purchased using the Blade App and paid for principally via credit card transactions, wire, check, customer credit, and gift cards, with payments principally collected by the Company in advance of the performance of related services. The revenue is recognized as the service is completed.

MediMobility Organ Transport products are typically purchased through our medical logistics coordinators and are paid for principally via checks and wires. Payments are generally collected after the performance of the related service in accordance with the client's payment terms. The revenue is recognized as the service is completed.

Jet products are typically purchased through our Flier Relations associates and our app and are paid for principally via checks, wires and credit card. Jet payments are typically collected at the time of booking before the performance of the related service. The revenue is recognized as the service is completed.

The Company initially records flight sales in its unearned revenue, deferring revenue recognition until the travel occurs. Unearned revenue from customer credit and gift card purchases is recognized as revenue when a flight is flown or upon the expiration of the gift card. Unearned revenue from the Company’s passes is recognized ratably over the term of the pass. For travel that has more than one flight segment, the Company deems each segment as a separate performance obligation and recognizes revenue for each segment as travel occurs. Fees charged in association with add-on services or changes or
extensions to non-refundable seats sold are considered part of the Company's passenger performance obligation. As such, those fees are deferred at the time of collection and recognized at the time the travel is provided.
Contract liability is defined as entity’s obligation to transfer goods or services to a customer for which the entity has received consideration (or the amount is due) from the customer. As of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company's contract liability balance was $6,036 and $5,976, respectively. This balance consists of unearned revenue, prepaid monthly and annual flight passes, customer credits and gift card obligations. Unearned revenue represents principally the flight revenues received in advance of the actual flight. Customer credits represents unearned revenue for flight reservations that typically were cancelled for good reason by the customer. The customer has one year to use the credit as payment for a future flight with the Company. Gift cards represent prepayment of flights. The Company recognizes revenue for expired customer credits and gift cards upon expiration.

The table below presents a roll forward of the contract liability balance:

Nine Months Ended September 30,
2022 2021
Balance, beginning of period $ 5,976  $ 4,418 
Additions 58,470  41,991 
Revenue recognized (58,410) (41,755)
Balance, end of period $ 6,036  $ 4,654 
For the nine months ended September 30, 2022, the Company recognized $4,158 of revenue that was included in the contract liability balance as of January 1, 2022. For the nine months ended September 30, 2021, the Company recognized $2,990 of revenue that was included in the contract liability balance as of January 1, 2021.

Certain governmental taxes are imposed on the Company's flight sales through a fee included in flight prices. The Company collects these fees and remits them to the appropriate government agency. These fees are excluded from revenue.

The Company’s quarterly financial data is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Historically, the second and third quarter (ended on June 30 and September 30, respectively) financial results have reflected higher Short Distance travel demand and were better than the first and fourth quarter (ended March 31 and December 31) financial results. Historically, MediMobility Organ Transport demand has not been seasonal. Jet and Other revenue have historically been stronger in the first and fourth quarter (ended on March 31 and December 31, respectively) given that the Company’s by-the-seat jet service has operated only between November and April.
Blade operates in three key lines of business:
•Short Distance – Consisting primarily of helicopter and amphibious seaplane flights in the United States, Canada and France between 10 and 100 miles in distance. Flights are available for purchase both by-the-seat and on a full aircraft charter basis.
•MediMobility Organ Transport – Consisting of transportation of human organs for transplant.
•Jet and Other –  Consists principally of revenues from non-medical jet charter, 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.
Disaggregated revenue by product line was as follows:
Three Months Ended
September 30,
 Nine Months Ended September 30,
2022 2021 2022 2021
Product Line(1):
Short Distance
 $ 20,402  $ 13,403  $ 35,568  $ 20,252 
MediMobility Organ Transport 20,219  2,245  50,143  5,130 
Jet and Other 5,101  4,668  22,274  17,158 
Total Revenue
 $ 45,722  $ 20,316  $ 107,985  $ 42,540 
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(1) Prior period amounts have been updated to conform to current period presentation.

Cost of Revenue
Cost of revenue consists of flight costs paid to operators of aircraft and cars, landing fees and internal costs incurred in generating ground transportation revenue using the Company's owned cars.