Uber is partnering with Airbus. The on-demand ride service will be offering stylish, swift, and costly helicopter rides around Utah during the Sundance Film Festival this month, and none other than European aerospace giant Airbus will be providing the choppers. 
 
 In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Airbus CEO Tom Enders said "It's a pilot project, we’ll see where it goes — but it’s pretty exciting." Details on the partnership are scarce, but the report says that Airbus will "provide" helicopters for Uber's future chopper services. It's not clear if Uber will be purchasing the helicopters, but that would mark a significant departure for Uber, which relies on independent drivers to provide vehicles. 
 
 Uber has offered helicopter rides several times before, but never as part of a permanent service option. In 2013, it had ritzy helicopter rides from Manhattan to the Hamptons, and during the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix in Austin, it also offered rides to the race track. The rides cost a minimum of several hundred dollars; in the case of the Hamptons rides, they were $3,000 a pop. As with those previous trials, helicopter rides during Sundance will include traditional car service rides to and from the helipad. A Utah-based company called Air Resources will be operating the service. 
 
 News of the partnership — which could signal a more significant push from Uber on helicopter services — will likely make competitor Blade nervous. The startup is essentially Uber for helicopters. ||||| Uber won't be available in Western New York until the end of the month at the earliest, but one of the ride-sharing vehicles arrived early Monday morning ... from Chicago. 
 
 Bills cornerback Shareece Wright, not wanting to miss the team's practice, took a car all the way from the Windy City to Buffalo, racking up a $632.08 bill along the way. Wright left from Chicago's O'Hare airport, telling the Bills' official website Wednesday that he missed his connecting flight Sunday. 
 
 “My flight ended up getting in late, so I wasn’t able to make my connecting flight,�? he told buffalobills.com. “I called one of my ex-teammates that lives in Chicago…and he wasn’t able to take me and Uber was my next thought.�? 
 
 One of his representatives, Tamerat Berhe, tweeted that Wright left a $300 tip, bringing his total bill to a little less than $1,000. 
 
 The cost of an @uber from Chicago to Buffalo $632.08 fare + $300 tip = $932.08 https://t.co/Esxgt9OeK8 — Tamerat Berhe, Esq. (@TamBerhe) June 6, 2017 
 
 The journey, which Mapquest pegs at 544 miles and estimates should take 8 hours, 37 minutes, was completed just in time, according to Wright. 
 
 "Meetings were at 7 and I made it to the facility at 6:57 or 6:58," Wright said. "So I was in a rush to make it inside. I gave him a $300 tip and he was really appreciative. I just told him 'Thank you man, I really appreciate it.' " 
 
 Wright, who signed with the Bills in May, is expected to compete for a reserve job behind starters Ronald Darby and Tre'Davious White. The 30-year-old explained to the team's website why he went to such great lengths to make it to a voluntary practice. 
 
 "It’s not even mandatory that we have to be here, but for me it is," he said. "I’m a veteran in this game, I’m here to lead by example and show how important it is. It’s only right that I do whatever I can to lead by example of how important it is to be here with my teammates and how important it is to be at practice to get better. I’m new to the team and I’m going to do whatever I can to play my role on this team." 
 
 Upon arriving at the team facility, Wright explained the situation to defensive backs coach Gill Byrd. 
 
 "He was like,'Are you alright?' He probably figured I wasn’t going to make it or something" Wright said, according to the team. "I said, 'yeah, I was calling you to give you a heads up that I might be a little bit late because I had to take an Uber from Chicago.' " 
 
 Byrd then had Wright tell his teammates about his trip. 
 
 "He gave me any opportunity ... to tell the story of what I went through before I started my day," he said. “He told me, 'Man that shows tremendous dedication. You could have easily said coach I missed my connection and I’ll be there first thing tomorrow.' " 
 
 As for why Wright didn't just rent a car and make the drive himself? Apparently, it was so that he could get some sleep before practice. Before he got some rest, Wright said he got to know his driver, Winny. 
 
 "He actually was a refugee," Wright said. "He was out in Chicago with no family. He had a handful of friends and is trying to be an astronaut. He didn’t know any English when he came. He’s been inspired by his dad [who was a pilot] so he’s just going to school and trying to be an astronaut – he’s paying for it by himself ... He had a great story to tell." 
 
 Wright gave Winny a five-star review, which seems fair after that type of trip.
– Imagine being able to use Uber to call a copter instead of a car. Airbus is partnering with Uber to make that dream a reality, the Wall Street Journal reports. Airbus will provide helicopters to Uber for use with its "on-demand services" in what the Airbus CEO calls an "exciting" pilot project and what The Verge calls "Uber for helicopters." The service will launch at the Sundance Film Festival this week in Utah. Uber has actually tested its so-called "UberChopper" service before, such as with rides between Manhattan and the Hamptons or rides to special events like the Cannes Film Festival or the US Formula 1 Grand Prix. Clients will be picked up in a car (also from Uber) and taken to and from the helipad; anyone in the area with the Uber app can call a copter. Past tests were pretty pricey: The Verge reports rides have so far cost a minimum of several hundred bucks, with the Hamptons rides costing $3,000 each. In this case, Uber tells the Los Angeles Times that 15-minute rides to and from Park City, Utah, and the Salt Lake City airport will cost $200 per person during the day and $300 at night. It's not Uber's first foray into alternate forms of transportation; it offers rickshaw service in India and boat service in Turkey.