I am always very impressed by the transportation by air of cats from disaster zones to new homes via rescue centres. In this instance 84 cats were transported from the Bahamas, damaged by Hurricane Dorian, to Morristown Airport in New Jersey. A group of volunteer rescuers and full-time employees (my assessment) did the work. This is fantastic work in helping rescue cats. The effort and money that goes into it is awesome.
Quite a decent sized aircraft was used for the task. I’ll presume that it is a turboprop aircraft (not a jet). So how much did it cost for this aircraft to make the round trip? You have to factor in the pilot’s pay.
I can’t find the precise answer. What I can find is that it might cost around $1,300 to $3,000 per hour to charter a private turboprop aircraft and pilot. However, that is not very accurate because I presume that a specialist business flies these rescue animals. I seems that a non-profit organisation called ‘Wings for Animals’ was used in this instance.
The flight time might be up to 2.75 hours (times 2 for a round trip). That makes a lot of money. We are looking at thousands of dollars so who is paying for it? I presume that it is the Wings for Animals charity who is funding it but is funding shared?
The online newspapers only report on the fantastic service of flying 84 cats from the Bahamas to New Jersey. We know how tight funding can be in cat rescue. And there has to be some sort of financial reconciliation when rescuing cats. What I mean is you have to allocate resources wisely to get the maximum benefit.
How is this worked out? I am sure it was a good decision to fly them out of the Bahamas but what were the alternatives and were they cheaper and just as effective?
Does someone know the precise cost of this two-way flight? I have contacted Wings for Animals and asked them. I am awaiting their response.
