500 Pilots Fly Patients to Medical Care for Free

Mike Bonanza watched a scared mother board his small plane in Kentucky, her three-year-old daughter on her hip. She needed to reach a medical appointment 200 miles away but had no car and no money for the four-hour drive.

Bonanza founded Elevated Access in 2022, a nonprofit that connects volunteer pilots with people who need to travel for healthcare they can't access in their home states. Since then, 500 vetted pilots have joined the mission, offering free flights to patients who would otherwise go without care.

The process is simple but secure. Pilots receive only a first name, phone number, and flight plan. Partner organizations like the Midwest Access Coalition vet passengers and coordinate logistics while Elevated Access handles the flying.

For the Kentucky mother, what would have been an impossible four-hour drive became a 50-minute flight. Bonanza made a deal with her before takeoff: they'd do a practice loop around the airport, and she could back out anytime. After one circle, she asked him to soften the turns and decided to continue.

Thirty minutes into the flight, Bonanza checked on his nervous passenger. She had fallen asleep.

Bonanza came to this work through listening. During the Me Too movement, he helped a colleague navigate sexual harassment and realized his unique position to help change systems. As a licensed pilot, he wondered if aviation could solve transportation barriers to healthcare.

In 2021, he contacted the Midwest Access Coalition with an idea: what if small planes could reach rural airports that commercial airlines never touch? He flew two executives to a tiny airstrip to prove the concept worked.

Why This Inspires

Transportation shouldn't determine whether someone gets medical care. Elevated Access removes that barrier by using a resource many pilots already have: empty seats in small planes and a few hours of flight time.

The organization operates entirely within legal boundaries, though Bonanza takes security seriously. He uses a pseudonym, has extra cameras at his Illinois home, and carries his attorney's number. He rarely tells people what he does for work, letting them assume it's "security-sensitive aviation."

Since the Supreme Court's 2022 decision, healthcare access has become increasingly regional. In 2025 alone, 142,000 people traveled out of state for abortion care. Many thousands more simply couldn't afford the trip.

Elevated Access fills that gap with compassion and practicality. The pilots don't ask questions or judge. They just fly.

Bonanza's message is clear: everyone has capacity to do something bigger than themselves.