Angel Flight West delivers health and hope using donated flights to serve those with healthcare or other compelling human needs. In the air, Angel Flight West links volunteer pilots and commercial airlines with people whose non-emergency health needs require long-distance travel to access care. On the ground, volunteer drivers ferry passengers to and from their departure and destination airports.

Although Angel Flight West responds to a wide variety of needs, flights are generally for passengers who can’t afford airline tickets, or for whom travel by land or by commercial airline would pose a physical hardship.

Other viable flight situations include passengers with compromised immune systems or who live in remote areas without access to commercial transportation.

The following is a list of the most common types of missions flown:

• Medical Transport - Flights for patients traveling to and from medical treatment. Patients with any medical condition who are ambulatory, medically stable, and can fly in a non-pressurized aircraft are accepted unless that condition would make flying a health risk.
• Transplant Recipients - Flights to bring transplant recipients to hospitals for organ transplants and living donors. These missions are accepted on a limited basis due to the time constraints and the distances involved
• Compassion - Flights for persons traveling for compassionate reasons such as, but not limited to, travel to provide caregiving for an ill family member or friend, and travel to visit a seriously or terminally ill family member.
• Specialty Camps - Flights for children and adults going to a variety camps—including burn survivors, children with diabetes, families impacted by HIV or AIDS, children who are cancer patients or cancer survivors, and many others.
• Domestic Violence Relocation - Flights that enable domestic violence survivors to move to a safer location.
• Assistance for Military Personnel - Flights for active-duty military personnel, in situations where the military cannot provide that assistance. In some situations, they may be able to assist with longer-distance travel via commercial airline.
• Blood, Organ, and Tissue Donations - Flights to transport blood, blood products, organs and/or tissue to and from hospitals or other agencies.
• Disaster Response- After floods, earthquakes and other disasters, AFW can dispatch a large number of aircraft to the disaster scene to help relocate displaced residents, to transport small rescue-type cargo and/or relief supplies, and to transport rescue workers and/or rescue dogs.

Most AFW flights are provided by their network of 1,800 volunteers—talented private pilots who fly their own or rented airplanes and generously donate the costs of the flight to their cause. For trips to and from Alaska and Hawaii, they work closely with their commercial airline partners.

Their Process
Angel Flight West passengers will never be charged for any service. Flights are cost-free and will be scheduled to accommodate your medical appointment. And one can travel with us as many times as they need.
On the ground, if necessary and available, their Earth Angels will transport you to a nearby airfield, where a pilot will then fly you to a treatment facility, or to a conveniently located relay point where you’ll be greeted by other pilots for the second or third leg of your trip.
Their flights are typically in small, private planes that allow us to more easily collect passengers in remote or rural areas. Your Angel Flight West experience is just for you and your personal travel companions.
After your medical appointment, another Earth Angel and an Angel Flight West volunteer pilot will make sure you’re safely picked up and brought home.

Criteria and Restrictions

• Angel Flight West is not an air ambulance. Passengers must be medically stable, able to walk, fly in a non-pressurized plane, and be able to sit up in a seat with a seatbelt fastened around them. They will need a medical release from your physician before your trip.
• They generally require a minimum of one week’s notice for all Angel Flight West trips.
• Though their flights are generally 900 miles or fewer, we can sometimes accommodate longer flights, especially for passengers in Alaska.
• You must have a financial need or a compelling reason why you can’t use public transportation. The costs of AFW flights are donated by pilots as charitable contributions.

If you have questions, please call 888-426-2643, or review their FAQs.

If you have a scheduled medical appointment or are ready to travel for one of their other approved travel reasons, request your flight now.
Request a Flight Now

Where they Fly
Angel Flight West provides air transportation within and across only 12 Western States: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.