Eleanor and her family travel from Helena, Montana, to Seattle for her treatment at Seattle Children's Hospital. Command pilot Trevor Moody provided one of the flight legs for this important mission across state lines. Based in the Washington wing, Moody has piloted more than 80 flights since becoming an Angel Flight volunteer pilot in 2014. [Courtesy: Angel Flight West]
Key Takeaways:
The widespread pilot shortage is significantly impacting volunteer organizations like Angel Flight, which provides free humanitarian flights, leading to hundreds of unfulfilled missions, particularly for medical transport in states such as Montana and Idaho.
Angel Flight coordinates volunteer pilots to fly individuals, primarily from rural areas, to specialized medical care, and also assists with other humanitarian needs like disaster relief and transporting veterans.
To volunteer, pilots must meet specific requirements including 250 total flight hours, a current medical certificate, and adequate insurance, with mission-related costs being tax-deductible and offering opportunities to build flight hours while serving the community.
The pilot shortage is not just at the airline level—it is also being keenly felt within the volunteer pilot community, notably by the Angel Flight organization.
Angel Flight is a network of volunteer pilots who provide free flights for humanitarian reasons, most often for people who need assistance when they travel for medical care.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
