Australia’s 3rd largest airline has never charged a single passenger since its foundation in 1928.
Wednesday, 12 Mar 2025
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To answer all the inevitable questions:
• The Royal Flying Doctor is funded by government (opex) and charity (capex). They provide all services from primary healthcare through to emergency response and flying ICU/NICU.
• No charge to any patient, no matter who they are, or where they are from. International tourists included.
• They have a fleet of 81 turboprops and small jets and land on roads, dirt strips etc etc, day and night, as needed.
• Some state road and helicopter ambulances charge for services, but insurance is very cheap, the poor don’t have to pay, and social/political pressure makes it impossible for them to collect the debt aggressively regardless:
https://www.ambulance.vic.gov.au/ambulance-victoria-ceases-debt-collection-practice/
A fleet of 81 aircraft is highly impressive. It’s not uncommon to see airlines with half and even quarter of this fleet.
We don’t get everything right as a country, but damn am I proud of our amazing RFDS and the way we approach healthcare in general.
Bloody legends
Used to watch a show called the Flying Doctors. used as in 35 years ago
We’re not a perfect country. And we do some really, really shitty things in the humanitarian spheres.
But we also get some stuff right, and I like to thing our healthcare is one of those things.
I did a two week ride along with RFDS. Wild times.
Have had to utilize the RFDS around 2 years ago, great crew nothing but compassionate and just all around amazing
Worth their weight in gold
They saved my husband’s life. He was the rider in a 4wd v motorcycle accident in central Australia.
The RFDS landed right there on the highway, and took him to the nearest hospital (Darwin) 1000km away. The pilot, doctor and flight nurses saved his life.
I couldn’t be with him the whole time (he was in hospital/physical rehab for almost a year), and they’d check in on me whenever they came to town for remote health services. They took me to Darwin and back whenever they had free seats while they were ferrying people to medical appointments.
We’ve got a model of an RFDS plane on a shelf in our living room, and I’ll always have time for them. I’ve made a charitable bequest for them in my will.
But do they have the world’s most powerful military?
*Cries in murica.
Does anyone have good advice for a South African doctor to join this?
I’d love to help my country but corruption has drained our health system, my generation of doctors have no way to study further/specialize without a government posts,
Americans having an aneurysm right now
USA would charge like 10% of the plane’s value and double everyone’s wage included in the trip.
This absolutely incredible. Saving lives in style too, the BKA B200 is such a pretty little plane!
And due to the vast remoteness of the country it’s not uncommon for us to land on a highway, Here’s one of my recent ones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsH-bGvYNEc
They’re not the only service though. NSW has contracted Toll now, for example.
American here, fucking WHAT
unparalleled nationalism/humanitarian system.
Well, of course. Humans need food and water to survive, not electricity.