To Support Medical Compassion Flight Pilots, Phillips 66 Aviation Announces Fuel Rebate

Online, April 26, 2010 (Newswire.com) - HOUSTON, April 26 - 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," explains 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. There are 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,'" says 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."

Angel Flight Northeast volunteer pilots have flown more than 53,000 children and adults over eight million miles, explains Larry Camerlin, President and Volunteer Pilot for the group, based at Lawrence Municipal Airport in Andover, Mass. Many patients come from rural areas, he says, without access to the hospitals and care they need to survive.

"These flights can make a tremendous difference in the quality of life for these patients and their families," says 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 says. "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."

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

"The Compassion Flight rebate will make a difference, absolutely," says MacLeod. "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."

When pilots volunteer for medical missions, they pick up the entire cost of the flight - the fuel, maintenance, insurance, everything, explains Camerlin. "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 says.

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 says softly. "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 says the Phillips 66 Compassion Flight Rebate will 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," explains Holmes. "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.