Angel Flight East Kootenay had a busy year helping local residents get to medical appointments in Kelowna for free.
President and lead pilot Brent Bidston says year after year the number of passengers and flights go up.
In 2023 they flew roughly 670 passengers and in 2024 that number was just shy of 1,000.
“Last year we went up to 997, so we just missed the thousand mark,” he said.
“We operated 322 flights in 2024 and the only way we’re coping with these increased numbers is instead of going to Kelowna and back once, we’ll do it twice in a day. In 2024 we did 15 doubles.”
Bidston says they haven’t found their limit yet.
“Every year has been a record,” he said.
“We know there has to be a maximum number of people that go from the East Kootenay to Kelowna but we haven’t found what it is yet.”
Angel Flight East Kootenay was founded in April 2019 and is an entirely volunteer-led charitable organization.
Bidston says the pilots are all giving up their spare time to help others.
“They are all volunteers. Two of us are retired airline pilots, but the rest are all active commercial pilots and they do this on their days off which is fantastic,” he added.
“We have a great bunch of volunteers.”
With flights increasing, the cost to keep operating also goes up.
Angel Flight East Kootenay relies on donations to stay in the air and Bidston says residents have been amazing at helping since they started the program.
“The donations are absolutely invaluable and they have been fantastic,” he said.
“We have fabulous support from the East Kootenay.”
You can donate to Angel Flight’s operations on their website.
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