Angel Flight West

Angel Flight West delivers health and hope using donated flights to serve those with healthcare or other compelling human needs. Founded in 1983, AFW links volunteer pilots in private aircraft to people with limited resources whose health care and other circumstances require them to travel to and from facilities throughout 12 Western states. Our volunteer pilots donate the costs of all flights, and there is never a charge for at mission. When weather or other conditions keep our pilots on the ground, we do our best to arrange alternate transportation, such as flights donated by our partner Alaska Airlines or by purchasing tickets through our Passenger Assistance Fund. In addition to medical flights, we arrange transportation for other humanitarian purposes: individuals and families escaping domestic violence; veterans taking part in therapeutic programs; and young people participating in specialty medical camps.

Angel Flight West envisions a culture of care in which all people have access to health care and other essential services regardless of social, economic, or geographic circumstances.

Goal One: Through our current growth initiative, Ascent to 8000, our goal is to double the number of missions we fly each year to 8,000 annually.

Goal Two: At AFW, human resources are our most important resource. In all that we do, we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an environment where all people are welcome and all voices valued.

Goal Three: To increase the number of people served, we focus on three key programs: Community Outreach and Education, Volunteer Engagement, and Mission Operations (arranging the flights).

Our Executive Director and Board Chair participated in Annenberg Alchemy, a capacity-building and leadership-development program for small to midsize nonprofit organizations. Among the central issues addressed in Alchemy are effective fundraising, board governance, and financial literacy. Our Associate Executive Director and Director of Development have also participated in professional development activities, while our Communications Manager (along with our grants team) attended the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, when many patients had their treatment delayed, AFW pivoted to operate as an essential service, delivering medical equipment and other critical supplies to rural communities and other hard-hit areas, including the Navajo Nation. We also arranged flights for medical personnel to travel to where they were needed most. As the country emerged from the worst of the pandemic, it became apparent that the healthcare landscape had dramatically changed, with a reduced workforce, closures of rural facilities, and patients unable to resume certain types of care. In addition, economic volatility has made it more expensive for our volunteer pilots to fly. In response, we broadened our outreach to a greater number of agencies and facilities, ramped up activity to enlist as many potential new volunteers as possible, and began new partnerships in other areas of service, including domestic violence relocation and transporting search-and-rescue dogs to training.