Our Passengers

When someone is afflicted with a serious illness, such as cystic fibrosis or liver cancer, that person’s life may depend on getting the best possible treatment. Unfortunately, many of the finest healing centers and hospitals are located in another part of the country, far enough away that the person suffering with the disease can’t afford to get there. That’s where an organization like Egairo can help.

The process usually goes as follows: once the patient discovers that the right treatment or procedure is being offered at a distant medical facility, that hospital or treatment center will contact a nonprofit organization, such as LifeLine Pilots or Angel Flight, to bring attention to this person’s unique, time-specific need. Then LifeLine or Angel Flight will thoroughly screen all potential passengers, making sure those with the most pressing needs also have the greatest opportunity for assistance.

After the screening process is finished, LifeLine Pilots or Angel Flight will put out a bulletin by email or phone to their network of volunteer pilots, to see if anyone is able to meet this need. As often as possible, Egairo answers this call. Upon contacting the agency or patient directly, Egairo will schedule the soonest possible flight, depending on aircraft/pilot availability, patient need, and available funding.

Egairo transports passengers of any age, from any walk of life. Some are children as young as one year old struggling with a birth defect, such as a positional plagiocephaly, a disorder in which the back or one side of an infant's head is flattened. Other passengers are well into their adult years dealing with a recent, life-threatening condition, like pancreatic cancer or a heart transplant.

Most passengers are seeking some form of medical care, and without the no-cost service Egairo provides, many would not be able to receive such important, potentially life-saving treatment. The journey from home to these distant locations is obviously an important one, so it’s common for patients to share the flight with a loved one.

Undoubtedly, anyone facing such a difficult circumstance as a life-threatening disease has more than enough reason to be down and depressed, and yet overwhelmingly the response to Egairo’s service is anything but. The families and individuals who’ve flown with Egairo have demonstrated remarkable optimism and appreciation, expressing deep gratitude that such an organization and its supporters are so willing to use their time, money, and resources to help those whom they’ve never met.

It takes an entire network of people and organizations to make just a single flight possible, and yet the motivation for such a demanding endeavor is never lost on the volunteers at Egairo, who know full well that even if the process of preparing a flight may feel somewhat the same, every single Egairo mission is inevitably a special and memorable experience, because each of Egairo’s passenger is truly one-of-a-kind.