Research travel options for patients:
If you are an individual or organization exploring the possibility of requesting AFW’s flight services in the future, but do not have a current flight request, click the button to the right to fill out our contact form.
Request a flight:
If you or a family member need help traveling to medical treatment, or if you’re a healthcare professional looking to request a flight for a patient with an upcoming appointment, click the button to the right to fill out our flight request form.
Request a Presentation:
We offer virtual presentations for healthcare workers. Hosted by our outreach team, these sessions are 30 minutes long and cover details about AFW’s services. Click the button to the right to request a presentation for your group.
Call our mission operations team with questions at (310) 390-2958.
Email our mission operations team at [email protected].
Angel Flight West provides free air transportation within and across the 12 Western states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Our volunteer pilots typically fly small airplanes with 4–6 seats, which limits the flight distance to 900 nautical miles in each direction. For flights over 300 miles, the journey may require two or more mission legs. Each leg of the trip is often flown by a different volunteer pilot to manage flight distances.
Angel Flight West is also proud to partner with Alaska Airlines to help patients in Alaska and Hawaii travel to the Lower 48 for medical treatment. If you are a healthcare professional requesting a flight with Alaska Airlines for the first time, please call our office at 310-390-2958 for assistance.
Financial or Compelling Need: Angel Flight West provides flights for those who cannot afford airfare or face physical hardships with other travel options. We also assist passengers with compromised immune systems or those in remote areas lacking commercial transportation. AFW does not require income verification.
Who Can Request: Flights can be requested by healthcare workers, family members, and patients themselves for non-emergency flights to medical appointments. Click here to get started.
*If you are a healthcare professional requesting a flight with Alaska Airlines for the first time, please call our office at 310-390-2958 for assistance. Qualifying patients are eligible for up to two round-trip tickets per calendar year.
Request Your Flight: Submit a request a minimum of a week in advance. We will ask for a medical release from the patient’s healthcare provider after the request is submitted. The patient must let staff know during the request if they plan to bring a companion and if help is needed with ground transportation.
Securing a Pilot: Once all personal and flight details have been finalized, we’ll submit your flight request to our pilots via a secure system. As soon as a pilot has signed up for the mission, we’ll accept their request and assign the mission. It may take a little time to secure a volunteer pilot for the mission, especially if the distance traveled requires multiple legs and multiple volunteer pilots.
The Details: We will send the patient, the healthcare requester (if applicable), and your pilot an e-mail with the itinerary — which includes the pilot’s contact information. The patient should expect to hear from your pilot to discuss all flight-related details. You may reach out to your pilot directly if you have any questions, but it may take a little time to coordinate details on their end.
Have a Back-up Plan: The flight is likely to take place, however, it is essential that passenger’s have a back-up plan or the ability to reschedule the appointment. We cannot guarantee our flights will always happen, and we may need to cancel due to weather, mechanical problems, or the inability to secure a volunteer pilot.
After Your Appointment: After the patient’s medical appointment, another Angel Flight West volunteer pilot will make sure they’re safely brought home!
Though we’re best known for linking passengers to valuable medical resources, we also provide transportation for other humanitarian purposes, such as individuals and families escaping domestic violence, disaster relief, therapeutic programs for veterans, and children’s specialty camps.
Compassion Flights: Flights for individuals traveling for compassionate reasons, such as caregiving for an ill family member, or visiting a seriously or terminally ill loved one.
Camp Flights: Flights for children and adults traveling to various camps, including those for burn survivors and children navigating life-altering or life-threatening illnesses.
Flights for Survivors of Domestic Violence: Flights for domestic violence survivors, helping them travel to a safer location.
Flights for Veterans: Flights for veterans traveling to therapeutic programs.
Blood, Organ, Tissue Transport: Flights to transport blood, blood products, organs and/or tissue to and from hospitals or other agencies.
Natural Disaster Support: After floods, earthquakes, and other disasters, Angel Flight West can deploy multiple aircraft to assist with relocating displaced residents, transporting small rescue cargo and relief supplies, and flying rescue workers and rescue dogs to the affected areas.
Flights for Dogs: Angel Flight West partners with service dog and search-and-rescue dog organizations to provide transportation for dogs traveling to begin their training.
Angel Flight West is proud to collaborate with other charitable aviation organizations to help patients reach distant medical care. In some cases, AFW can partner with these organizations to arrange flights to nearby states, such as Texas and New Mexico. Please note that these flights must still be under 900 nautical miles.
If you are requesting a flight for a patient traveling from a Western state to a nearby state outside of our service area, please call our office at (310) 390-2958.
For patients living outside of AFW’s service area, we recommend visiting the Air Care Alliance for a list of additional resources.
For more than 40 years, AFW has served more than 20,000 passengers through more than 100,000 flights.