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:
Angel Flight, a volunteer pilot organization providing free humanitarian flights primarily for medical travel, is severely impacted by the pilot shortage, especially in the Pacific Northwest, leading to hundreds of mission requests being turned down.
The organization transports individuals, often from rural areas, to specialty medical care, and also assists with other humanitarian causes like flying veterans, disaster relief, and helping those escaping domestic violence.
Volunteer pilots for Angel Flight must meet specific experience (e.g., 250 total hours, 75 cross-country PIC) and insurance requirements, with mission-related expenses like fuel and aircraft rental being tax-deductible.
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.
