A Statistical Overview of Fixed Wing Air Medical Transportation Operations in the United States (2019-2020)

Air medical transportation (AMT) services provide the transportation of patients, medical teams, and organs for the US health care system. Interfacility transfers account for 54% of air medical transports, and delivering specialty care and organs accounts for 13% of air medical transports. Interfacility transfer, specialty care, and organ delivery are predominantly conducted using fixed wing aircraft. The AMT fixed wing fleet has grown 2.2% per year over the last decade along with a 3.6% per year expansion in the number of AMT base airports with fixed wing operations. This article aims to characterize the operations of fixed wing AMT in the United States for the period of 2019 to 2020. This information can be used for aircraft design, airport and air traffic control infrastructure assessment and funding, and AMT industry sector analysis and strategic planning. Data from 12 databases were combined to identify AMT flights and generate operational statistics including the number of vehicles; ownership; flight distances; flight frequency; geographic distribution; and the types of airports, air traffic control, and navigation systems used.