Pilots for Patients
Free Medical Flights · About this organization
What you get
Free volunteer-pilot flights to medical care, with a return flight when matched and one companion when aircraft space and weight allow.
How to start
Your social worker, doctor, or minister starts the flight request. Fill in and sign the trip and waiver forms and get your doctor’s signed statement.
Good to know
- Return the signed paperwork at least five working days before your flight.
- Flights depend on volunteer pilots; keep a backup travel plan.
The details, as published
Pilots for Patients coordinates free volunteer-pilot flights for medically stable Louisiana patients traveling to regional medical centers for legitimate treatment or evaluation. A child age 0–18 with B-ALL is within the medical-travel scope, but must be able to sit upright in a small aircraft and must travel with a parent or adult guardian. Requests must come from a social worker, physician, or minister, and the complete online request and signed paper forms are due at least five working days before the flight. Pilot matching and safe weather are required, so families are told to maintain a backup plan.
What help you may get
Travel And Transportation
Free Medical Flights — travel and transportation
Pilots for Patients coordinates free volunteer-pilot flights for medically stable Louisiana patients traveling to regional medical centers for legitimate treatment or evaluation. A child age 0–18 with B-ALL is within the medical-travel scope, but must be able to sit upright in a small aircraft and must travel with a parent or adult guardian. Requests must come from a social worker, physician, or minister, and the complete online request and signed paper forms are due at least five working days before the flight. Pilot matching and safe weather are required, so families are told to maintain a backup plan.
Noncash help · Per Trip
Can cover
- Return flight when requested and matched
- Travel for one companion when aircraft space and weight allow
- Volunteer-pilot flight to a medical appointment
Does not cover
- Air-ambulance-level medical care
- Guaranteed flight availability
- Travel when the patient cannot safely fly in a small aircraft
- Patients are never charged for a flight.
- The official pages do not publish a lifetime or annual trip limit.
Check the main eligibility rules
Diagnosis
B-ALL is in scope. The official program transports medically stable Louisiana patients for legitimate medical treatment or evaluation without excluding pediatric cancer; pediatric B-ALL treatment travel is within that scope.
Age
Age 0 to no published upper limit, measured at service date.
- The program serves patients without a published age ceiling; patients age 18 and under must travel with a parent or adult guardian.
Treatment status
Active Treatment
- A provider must verify the patient or diagnosis.
- A physician's statement with a handwritten signature is required.
- The request form requires doctor and hospital or clinic information.
- The program says patients are typically referred based on financial need or lack of access to commercial flight options, but it does not publish a mandatory income threshold.
- Lack of access to commercial flight options may support a referral even when a numerical financial-need rule is not published.
Where you live and where your child is treated
Where your family lives
You must live in: LA.
- The program states that it focuses on transporting Louisiana patients.
Where your child is treated
Treatment must be connected to: Travel must be to a regional medical center for legitimate medical treatment or evaluation..
- Travel must be to a regional medical center for legitimate medical treatment or evaluation.
How to get started
Set up the ask for my social worker
Does a social worker or care team need to start it? Yes. Ask your child’s social worker or care team to begin the request.
Who can start: Healthcare Team, Social Worker
- Complete the online mission request with requester, route, appointment, patient, companion, emergency-contact, and physician information.
- Have a social worker, physician, or minister initiate the request after the appointment and travel dates are known.
- Print and sign the Mission Request Form and Waiver of Liability, and obtain a physician's handwritten signature on the Physician's Statement.
- Return all signed paperwork by email or fax at least five working days before the requested flight.
- Wait for coordinator review and volunteer-pilot matching while maintaining a backup travel plan.
Ways to apply or ask
- Email · pfp@pilotsforpatients.org — Return the signed Mission Request Form, Waiver of Liability, and Physician's Statement by email.
- Online Portal · Open form or page
- Phone · 318-322-5112 — Call mission coordinators with questions about eligibility or flight requests.
Documents to prepare
- Appointment and route details
- Mission Request Form
- Patient and companion age and weight information
- Physician's Statement with handwritten signature
- Waiver of Liability signed by the patient and each companion before every flight
- Coordinators post the mission and match it with an available volunteer pilot.
- Flights depend on pilot availability and safe weather and may be rescheduled.
Availability and timing
| Program | Active |
|---|---|
| Applications | Open |
| Funding or space | Not Published |
| Application window | Not Applicable |
| Last checked | Aug 24, 2026 |
- The official online mission-request form was active on the verification date.
- The organization says it will make every effort to accommodate a request but tells patients to have a backup plan; pilot and weather availability are not guaranteed.
- All paperwork must be received at least five working days before the requested flight date.
- The five-day clock starts when the organization receives all paperwork; the page specifies working days.
Limitations and things to confirm
- A flight is not guaranteed because missions depend on volunteer-pilot and weather availability.
- Complete paperwork is due at least five working days before the requested flight.
- Each traveler is limited to 250 pounds, and one companion is allowed only when space and weight permit.
- Requests must be made by a social worker, physician, or minister.
- The patient must be medically stable, able to sit upright, and able to fly safely in a small aircraft.
- Are there annual or lifetime trip limits?
- Can a parent submit the online form after a social worker, physician, or minister makes the referral, or must the professional remain the formal requester?
- How does Pilots for Patients define or document financial need or lack of commercial-flight access?
- What medical conditions, oxygen use, communicable-disease status, mobility limitations, or aircraft-access requirements may prevent acceptance?
- What route-distance limits and airport-coverage boundaries apply to Louisiana patients?
- Which of the two differently named physician-statement PDF URLs linked by current official pages is the durable canonical asset?
- Should applicants use the older mailing address printed on the PDFs, or only the current request page's email and fax instructions?
Official sources
Program details were last verified Aug 27, 2026. Availability can change, so check the official program before applying.
- For Patients — Request a Free Flight — Pilots for Patients · checked Aug 27, 2026
- For Patients — Request a Free Flight — Pilots for Patients · checked Aug 23, 2026
- Request a Flight — Pilots for Patients · checked Aug 27, 2026
- Request a Flight — Pilots for Patients · checked Aug 23, 2026