Pilots needed

Flights to Freedom helps survivors of human trafficking

June 1, 2025 By Julie Summers Walker

The stories are harrowing. Sitting in my cozy little office in Frederick, Maryland, Steve Throne is sitting across from me, telling me the most horrific stories, and I eventually say to him: You have to leave.

Flights to Freedom

Throne and his partner Ken Lux are the founders of Flights to Freedom, an organization the two California men started after they, too, listened to horrifying stories told by the Sacramento sheriff’s department, FBI, and other law enforcement officers.

“Human trafficking” is a phrase we’ve come to hear as the world seemingly gets more dangerous, but I don’t think I’d ever put a face or a reality to the phrase. Now, Throne was enlightening me. “It’s in every community,” he said. Looking outside at the bucolic landscape around Frederick Municipal Airport (FDK), he added “Even here.”

After an FBI human trafficking briefing and meetings with various law enforcement agents, child protective services, district attorneys, and other agencies, Lux and Throne founded Flights to Freedom, a group of concerned pilots who came to realize the severity of child sex trafficking, and how pilots can help.

Lux and Throne believe that private air transportation for human trafficking victims and their support groups provide a strategic advantage to law enforcement officers. Flights to Freedom’s mission is to provide safe, expedient, private air transportation for victims of child sex trafficking, human exploitation, and their support groups through volunteer pilots and their aircraft.

Concerned pilots realize the severity of child sex trafficking and how pilots can help.

There is a critical and narrow 24-to-48-hour window to transport a human trafficking survivor (the organization prefers this term to “victim”) away from danger. Commercial air transportation is not a viable option because of the complexities of commercial airlines and security (many of those affected do not have appropriate identification, for example) along with the potential for delays or disruptions. Using ground transportation such as buses can also be an issue as the extended travel time can impede the return to safety. In addition, law enforcement, child protective services, and other agencies often have limited transportation budgets and staffing. Safety, security, and confidentiality are paramount. Through its network of volunteer pilots and aircraft, Flights to Freedom provides transportation, promptly delivering the human-trafficked survivor to safety, and at no cost.

Human trafficking is the fastest growing and second largest criminal industry in the world. California continues to witness the largest number of human trafficking cases in the United States. Pilots with aircraft can help by donating their flying time, aircraft time, and fuel, to benefit and transport survivors of human trafficking.