Am I doing something wrong?

[karonstewart]

I have emailed 11 pilots for a fairly short flight and they are all along the route (central PA. to Philly). Out of the 11, only one has emailed back. Is it customary for pilots to just ignore emails? It would be nice that if they can't do it...to at least say so. And yes, it the transport IS posted on the "board".

[suzy]

Hi karonstewart,
Yes, unfortunately, it is the norm to send out copious e-mails and not to hear back from a lot of them. And, in all fairness, I'm sure they get a lot of e-mails. I have sent out 20, 30, even 40 e-mails at times. It seems harder lately t find pilots. Maybe it's the economy. My advice would be to keep sending e-mails.
Good luck,
Suzy

[robertam]

Karon:

I concur with Suzy's advice. Sometimes pilots are away on business trips, already have a transport scheduled that conflicts with your request, etc, which is why you don't hear back. As Suzy noted, they receive lots of e-mails so I figure if I don't hear back, then for whatever reason that pilot is unavailable to assist. Also around this time of year until mid August, it can be more difficult to find pilots because lots have families and go on vacation with them; especially if they have school age children.

I typically do what Suzy mentioned--send out lots of e-mails. To make it a bit easier, I will prepare however many "texts" I need for the e-mails. For example, if the route requires having multiple legs[let's say Louisville to Indianapolis to Chicago to Michigan], I will prepare one text re: leg 1[Louisville to Indy] for the e-mail I'll send to the pilots I'll contact about flying that leg. Then I will prepare anonther text re: legs 1 and 2[could you fly Louisville to Indy or Indy to Chicago] that will be in the e-mails I send to the Indy based pilots. And so on[Chicago pilots ask if can fly Indy to Chicago or Chicago to MI]. I've found this makes it easier because you can copy and paste.

Did you put a particular day or days you want the animal to be transported? If yes, but you have some flexibility regarding when the transport occurs, I often note in my e-mail that I would like the transport to occur on X date, but if that is inconvenient for you, could you please let me know which dates are better for you. Of course, there are times when a transport has to go during the specified day or dates, but if you have some flexibillity, you'd probably hear from more pilots if you state your preferred transport date(s) and if those dates are bad, ask for their availability.

Hope this helps!

Roberta

[admin]

To add to the already good advice that has been shared, let's keep in mind that pilots volunteer their time, money and aircraft to fly for rescues and shelters when they can. It is not a given that they will be able to help you, it is a gift. We need to remember that this economy is effecting many people and though I know it can be frustrating when you are facing a life and death matter for an animal, the option of Pilots N Paws wasn't even always available.

I know pilots have shared with me that if they cannot help, they do not reply in order to keep things simple. If their email isn't bouncing, then you can assume they received it OR you can send out a second email and ask. We all do the best we can, when we can! Thanks to each and every one of you for your dedication.

Debi