(425) 885-9424 | info@wingsworldwide.org

Epilogue to the Future

The Creation

Are you interested?

x

x

The Creation of the Humanitarian Airline

The founding and remaining intent of Wings World Wide – The Air Medical Foundation is to establish a “humanitarian airline”. Instead of vacationers and business travelers, this airline will deliver medical aid, volunteers and supplies to established government and NGO clinics world wide. Pre-planned and ongoing medical missions worldwide are also a primary mission of the “humanitarian airline”. The initial effort has been delayed due to battle against terror throughout the world. The first two 747 aircraft donated by Boeing have been converted to an option on three larger aircraft. Although the initial funding towards this effort has been slowed due to the charitable slowdown after 9-11, ironically, the need has increased.

Wings has been an unpaid research resource of aviation and medical professionals who have compassion for those less fortunate than ourselves and an understanding of both the governments needs and civilian business capabilities. There is no question that Wings can operate at a far greater reduced cost than any business entity. Many have tried to operate as a business or a religious enterprise and have failed. There are two main reasons for these failures. It takes more than one aircraft to make this work and there can be no religious, ideological, political or other motivation in giving service. These are just unacceptable conditions in the humanitarian world.

Wings has survived because Wings has no conditional use except for working with the best to do the best. Wings resources have supplied airlift during the Katrina and Rita hurricanes. And, Wings continues to create partnerships with established and reputable NGOs to create the chain of medical and dental clinics throughout the world that will be continually supplied and re-supplied by the “humanitarian airline”. As a charitable endeavor, the bottom line is not profits on a ledger sheet, but the number of lives saved and improved.

Medically, as an NGO Wings knows where to go to get donated product and how to compound it in order to share it globally. Wings has a data base of volunteers, willing to go out and give days, weeks or even months of service to those less fortunate around the world. The “humanitarian airline” will be the main source of transportation for both humanitarian aid and volunteer personnel. Teaching NGOs to commingle assets, share in service and transport will allow them to save time, financial resources as well as improve and save many more lives. After all, it is about people and what we can do for them, not what we can do for ourselves.

Wings has found that NDMS, IMSuRT and USAR responders are already organized and prepared to respond to disaster situations, but have lacked a transportation asset specifically designed for them to allow for an “immediate response” capability instead of just a first response. Using their own manuals, Wings gleaned from them their structure, mount-out inventory and response timetables. Wings has the ability to shorten the response time and can increase the efficiency and capability of each unit. Wings has surpassed even the government’s requirements for each unit with its’ designed response capability, its own initial relief supply cache, all based on current NDMS manuals. With no difference in equipment or training, NDMS responders can now leave deploy at a moments notice without their gear, using Wings’ cache and leave their own cache for a use in their local area if an event occurs in their absence. Wings has satisfied the need versus the want!

The Foundation researched the aviation industry and calculated that passenger growth will triple by the year 2020. Cargo capacity will double in the next 10 years. What then is the advantage of waiting to provide an immediate response capability when more is becoming less! More passenger requirements does mean more aircraft, however more aircraft does not necessarily mean more lift available. The new cargo A380 Airbus EADS was set back years. Thus, the immediate expected growth in lift capacity has now shrunk. Cargo aircraft are second in line to be produced under any new aircraft development. Thus cargo aircraft must come from converted existing aircraft or must wait for the proven passenger model to be successful in order for the cargo version production line to be opened. Military aircraft, developed specifically for the military, have never met the lift requirement of the armed services. The estimated C-17 requirement has been 360 aircraft while less than 200 have been ordered and only 170 have even been delivered. Thus there are always too few military aircraft available at any given time and assets in the CRAF inventory have always been required to meet this need. Yet, CRAF aircraft can result in configure delays. Hence, the more the lift requirement, the fewer aircraft are available. Sadly, more does means less! Happily, Wings “humanitarian airline” can reduce the burden on TRANSCOM in supplying an immediate response asset to deliver NDMS response teams.

It is now understood that as more control of our domestic airline system is made available to be obtained by foreign countries, reliability is less in using CRAF or chartered aircraft by the DoD. When a disaster strikes, that is not the time to debate if the specific disaster, in a specific country, warrants a response. Just as domestic carriers withdrew from CRAF during the downsizing and merging of airlines, the world cannot be held captive to a boardroom that debates the pros and cons of pulling aircraft from commercial service to meet an immediate humanitarian need. Wings World Wide – The Air Medical Foundation does not debate the worthiness of a disaster, it responds to it.

The first step in resolving this issue is to banish the paradigm that more is better and that fixing a problem isn’t worth the cost until there’s a smoking hole in the ground. Unfortunately, past history demonstrates that we ignore warning signs until tragedy strikes. Recent history demonstrates we even ignore the issue even after the tragedy has passed.

Wings decided it was time to make its Foundation available and fill the void for the country to be more efficient in responding immediately to domestic and international disasters. More responsive, this means responding in hours instead of days domestically and days instead of weeks internationally. Wings concept, as it has developed, now allows our government and NGOs to have a delivery vehicle for humanitarian flights throughout the world. This concept not only allows for worldwide NGOs to have a continuous and cost effective transportation system, but relieves TRANSCOM of having dedicated assets in readiness for immediate, but temporary response needs. Lastly, it is just a more capable, cost efficient and a more effective way to meet head on with disaster response and humanitarian relief situations.

Wings now asks the government, corporate America and NGOs to do the same, banish the old ways that are inefficient and non productive and embrace and support a concept that saves time, is cost effective, and more importantly, saves lives! Is it a cheap fix, no! But it is the right fix at the right time. The first step in doing something that is right is admitting that something is wrong. For continuing to do what you are already doing only guarantees the ability to achieve what you have already done. In this case – NOTHING!

So, are you interested?

So the question remains. Are you interested? That is really what this is about. Are we going to maintain the status quo and plan to react, or are we going to react with a plan? Thus, when responding to a disaster of any type, manmade or natural:

* Would you be interested if you had an immediate response vehicle that could be airborne within three hours of notification with the proper complement of immediate emergency aid and personnel?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle could make two stops domestically and still be on site and employed within 12 hours? Even sooner without any necessary stops?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle could be internationally deployed in the same three (3) hour timeframe and employed at the disaster site within twenty-four (24) hours?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle contained eight surgical tables, a post-op, and sterile room?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle could carry 90 passengers to accommodate emergency medical personnel?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle could accommodate 200 evacuees?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle could carry up to 60 tons of relief aid in the same timeframe?

* Would you be interested if your vehicle carried 30 operational aviation and medical staff to support your deployed medical teams?

* Would you be interested if your response teams were provided with training missions throughout the calendar year?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle was equipped to provide medical transport, in-theatre medical treatment, deployable ground medical facilities, and mass evacuation at a level equal to or better than current CRAF requirements?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle could also accommodate movement of CDC requirements?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle could deploy a ground medical facility that could accommodate 400 patients per day?

* Would you be interested if your immediate response vehicle was not stopped enroute for flooding, sizable disaster debris, unusable bridges, distance, weather considerations, or the inability to accommodate the sheer numbers of personnel and/or equipment?

* Would you be interested in a capability that requires no daily maintenance or upkeep, in terms of manpower or cost, to any part of the Federal Government?

If you are not interested, why are you still reading? Possibly it is because you have never seen or envisioned this capability. Possibly it is because you think you already have it. Possibly it is because you too desire to facilitate immediate response needs, but have never known a capability like this could be assembled to accomplish all of these needs.

Wings World Wide – The Air Medical Foundation asks that you review and understand the full capability of what Wings can provide in the event of natural and/or manmade disasters. Working together, we can provide a cost-effective and practical response capability that will relieve government agencies not only of maintenance and support, but also of additional manning costs. Further, this capability can be utilized for pre-planned medical and humanitarian missions to promote goodwill, and thus security is enhanced for the United States. We look forward to working with you.

[Back to Top...]

Wings World Wide © 2008. All Rights Reserved.