by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 11:01 AM ET, Wed October 27, 2021
Major airlines and their executives announced plans on October 26 to donate 20,000 flights to help resettle Afghan refugees to their new homes in the U.S.
According to The Hill, the airlines include United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, Air Canada and Frontier Airlines, as well as Boeing and the TripAdvisor Foundation. The organizers of these donations are Welcome.US and Miles4Migrants.
The official press release announcing this donation also revealed that the number of flights donated matches the number the American people have already donated through Miles4Migrants or Welcome.US using their frequent flyer miles and credit card points since August.
While refugees typically fund their own transportation, oftentimes they need to take out interest-free loans to pay for their travel expenses. Freeing up this burden can allow for the refugees to pay for other essentials like housing, school supplies and medical care.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporterst in a statement on October 25 that there are currently over 53,000 Afghan refugees in the U.S. Only 6,700 have been relocated thus far, with Miles4Migrants helping to fly 3,000 of them. Welcome.US and Miles4Migrants are looking to reach 70,000 flights donated, or 1 billion airline miles, to help them relocate.
United Airlines will donate 7,000 flights, American Airlines 6,000. The airlines, as well as the others mentioned above, allow their loyalty members to donate their own miles to help the refugees, with promises to match their donations.
"United Airlines is honored to continue supporting Afghanistan relief efforts by providing critically needed air travel to help evacuees at our military bases travel to their new homes," said Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines. "More than 8,000 United employees raised their hands to support the Afghan evacuee flights we operated as part of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program, and thousands of our customers have asked how they can help. We're proud to partner with Miles4Migrants and Welcome.US to give everyone the chance to play a role in supporting this vital mission."
Miles4Migrants was founded in 2016 to encourage individuals to donate their frequent flyer miles or credit card points to help individuals fleeing persecution, war or other disasters. Welcome.US is a nonprofit designed to be a seamless go-between the local organizations helping refugees and individuals who'd like to help.
For the latest travel news, updates and deals, subscribe to the daily TravelPulse newsletter.
Topics From This Article to Explore
