GA leaders honored for fighting human trafficking

Flights to Freedom, founded in 2024, presented the Flights to Freedom Clay Lacy Friendship Medal to Baker and Bolen during the NBAA Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition in Las Vegas. Flights to Freedom CEO Ken Lux joined Lacy in presenting the namesake awards. Lux, in a news release from NBAA, cited Bolen's "outstanding support in raising awareness for the Flights to Freedom mission. His leadership has been instrumental in highlighting the urgent need to rescue children from human trafficking, and in showcasing the vital role the aviation community can play in helping Flights to Freedom achieve these critical goals."

The organization, featured in the June issue of AOPA Pilot, recruits volunteer pilots and aircraft owners to transport survivors to safe locations. The group coordinates with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to dispatch private aircraft on short notice because time is of the essence, and commercial air travel is not a viable option—many survivors do not have the documentation required—and the slow speed of ground transportation can put survivors at risk of recapture.

Flights to Freedom is not alone in marshalling the resources of GA to assist survivors. AOPA reported on the Freedom Aviation Network, a Nashville, Tennessee-based nonprofit with the same mission, in 2023.