Group gives vets a much needed lift

Jets for Vets, a new initiative sponsored by an aircraft dealers association, is arranging free flights on corporate aircraft for military personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families. The goal of the program is to help bypass the military paperwork and delays involved with getting family members to wounded veterans, which in some cases can take up to three weeks. Tony Smith, president of Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Executive Wings, said Jets for Vets will function along the lines of the Corporate Angel Network, with corporate flight departments offering vacant seats on flights. Smith told AIN that since Jets for Vets was launched numerous corporate volunteers have stepped forward, including two that have offered their aircraft, even if they do not have a previously scheduled flight.