Phillips 66® Aviation Announces Fuel Rebate to Support Medical Compassion Flight Pilots

A pioneering rebate program, designed to support pilots that volunteer their aircraft and time to fly seriously ill patients who need specialized medical treatments, is being launched by Phillips 66® Aviation. 

Starting June 1, pilots flying missions organized and approved by Angel Flight Northeast and Mercy Medical Airlift, which administers Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic and Airlift Hope America, will qualify for a $1-per-gallon rebate on fuel purchased using Phillips 66 Aviation Personal Credit Card at a Phillips 66 Aviation branded FBO.

The program, a first for general aviation, could initially support more than 1,600 active pilots that fly these critically important flights in the Northeast United States. 

“These missions mean so much to seriously ill children, adults and their families,” said Jim Smith, Executive Director, Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic and Airlift Hope America. “It takes a generous commitment of time and finances from volunteer pilots. With the cost of avgas what it is, the Phillips 66 Compassion Flight Fuel Rebate could make the difference in whether or not a pilot flies that extra, crucial mission for us.”

The rebate applies to avgas purchased from a Phillips 66 Aviation dealer, with more than 713 Phillips 66 FBOs across the country.

“Through this program, Phillips 66 Aviation is saying to these volunteer pilots, ‘we recognize your value, we appreciate your efforts and we support you,’” said Rod Palmer, Manager of Aviation for Phillips 66.  “If it encourages more pilots to volunteer or take more medical flights, then we’ll consider this program a success.”

Tens of thousands of patients 

Angel Flight Northeast volunteer pilots have flown more than 53,000 children and adults more than eight million miles, said Larry Camerlin, President and Volunteer Pilot for the group, based at Lawrence Municipal Airport in Andover, Mass.  He said many patients came from rural areas without access to the hospitals and care they needed to survive.

“These flights can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for these patients and their families,” said Camerlin. “This is a remarkable gesture on the part of Phillips 66. They recognized the need, the countless flights, plus the expense our volunteers take on to help thousands of patients.” 

Volunteer Pilot Bill MacLeod has flown 259 missions for Angel Flight Northeast in his painstakingly refurbished Cherokee 6.  For the past five years, MacLeod has flown 30 missions a year. 

“People need us, plain and simple,” MacLeod said. “There are people that just need to get to a doctor, to a hospital, to get home from the hospital, and they really don’t have an alternative, other than a long bus ride, a long car ride, or a ferry ride.  The comfort and speed of getting them almost door-to-door is just a tremendous improvement in their lives.”

Rebate could be incentive

But even MacLeod, a longtime volunteer, said the cost of fuel had him thinking twice about taking on extra Angel Flight missions.

 “The Compassion Flight rebate will make a difference, absolutely,” MacLeod said. “There are guys who have cut back their medical missions, and when they hear about this, it may be the incentive they need to fly more patients.”

Camerlin said that when pilots volunteer for medical missions, they picked up the entire cost of the flight – the fuel, maintenance, insurance, everything. “They are giving their time and their financial resources to fly people they have never met in their life to get critically needed medical care,” Camerlin said. 

With a fast and thirsty twin-piston Aerostar, Lyndon Holmes knows well the cost of his volunteer missions. He also understands the suffering many of his patients endure.  

“I flew one young kid with a severe circulatory problem, who had both his legs amputated and he was in a lot of pain,” Holmes said.  “But this kid, you got to talking with him on the flight, and he was sharp as a tack, really bright, and he was very upbeat. These flights make me appreciate everything I have.”

Holmes said the Phillips 66 Compassion Flight Rebate would make a difference. “When I can look at the fuel bill without cringing quite as much it’s going to mean I can do maybe two, three more flights a quarter, and that’s what it’s all about,” Holmes said. “I am going to be flying these medical missions for a while, as long as there is gas to put into the tank, so to speak.”

Compassion Flight rebates from Phillips 66 start June 1. A complete list of fuel rebate eligibility requirements can be found at phillips66aviation.com.

For more information, visit AngelFlightNE.org, or call 978-794-6868; AngelFlightMidAtlantic.org, or 800-296-3797; AirliftHope.org, or 800-325-8908.