WASHINGTON — Last night, Airlink honored key partner United Airlines as Airline Partner of the Year in recognition of their substantial support of Airlink and its humanitarian programs in 2016.
“United has been a strong partner for many years,” commented Steve Smith, Executive Director of Airlink. “Their commitment to humanitarian causes is exemplified by their ongoing support of our efforts to send relief workers to disasters, as well as tremendous assistance in crowdfunding our large-scale responses throughout the past year, including the earthquake in Ecuador, the flooding in Louisiana, and Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.”
In 2016, United Airlines played a role in every disaster response that Airlink mounted, from the response to Cyclone Winston in Fiji and the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Greece, to flooding in Louisiana and Hurricane Matthew in Haiti. Through its Charity Miles program, United enabled Airlink to send 209 relief workers to respond to disasters in 2016, totaling more than US$198,000 in donated flights for a wide range of nonprofit organizations. Suzi Cabo, Managing Director of Corporate and Community Affairs, said, “At United, providing relief in times of disaster is a priority. Airlink has been a critical partner, and its ability to prioritize needs and vet partners has allowed United and its customers to help respond to some of the world’s most devastating disasters.”
The presentation of the award took place during the Airlink Charity Gala Dinner, hosted by Airline Economics, on Tuesday, January 17, 2017 at the Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin, Ireland, as part of the Airline Economics’ Growth Frontiers Dublin 2016 Conference. “We would not be here, sharing United Airlines’ monumental contribution to Airlink’s work with the aviation community, without the support and advocacy of Aviation News Online and Philip and Victoria Tozer-Pennington,” said Steve Smith.
Airlink looks forward to continued partnership with United Airlines as they enable Airlink to respond to disasters and humanitarian crises around the world.
