United Adds Chicago to Port-au-Prince Flights to Aid in Earthquake Relief

United is stepping up to help relief efforts in Haiti.

Starting Wednesday [yesterday], United Airlines plans to begin relief flights that will ship water and other badly needed supplies to earthquake-ravaged Haiti and return, red-tape permitting, filled with far more precious cargo: orphans.

The Chicago-based carrier plans to operate about 30 flights to Port-au-Prince over the next month to support global disaster-relief agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders.

The flights are on 757s and include a mix of supplies, UA employees, and relief workers. If all works according to plans, the return flights will include some additional cargo. 

United’s first flight is slated to ferry about 20,000 16-ounce bottles of water donated by Walgreen Co. and 50 aid workers to the Haitian capital. If visas and other paperwork snarls are resolved, United plans to return to the U.S. with children from a Haitian orphanage run by two Pittsburgh-area sisters.

You can help too:

United has urged consumers to donate frequent-flier miles to the cause and has pledged to match up to $50,000 in contributions made to the American Red Cross by employees. Flight attendants on the first flight to Haiti, meanwhile, are donating their time and working that day for free.

Hats off to the UA employees who are volunteering their time for this worthy cause. Like the Fantasy Flight last month, it is gratifying to see people come together in times of need.

For more information on how you can help, check out this link.

I have mixed feelings about corporate responsibility, but I hope we can all applaud United (and many other corporations) for stepping up in the wake off such a horrible tragedy.

^{photo courtesy United Airlines}