LifeFlight of Maine Raises Pay to Match Nurses in Effort to Keep Pilots and Paramedics on the Job
CEO Joe Kellner implemented pay equity and a full-time mental health counselor to combat high turnover rates in the region's air ambulance service.
By Alexei Brooks ·
LifeFlight of Maine is testing a new strategy to keep its medical teams flying. The company recently raised paramedic wages to equal those of flight nurses, a move that breaks from standard industry pay scales.
Demand for air medical transport in Maine has doubled since 2015. In 2025, LifeFlight crews completed 3,031 flights. That average is more than one flight every three hours. Current demand is up another 10 percent this year.
The increase in flights coincides with the closing of rural hospitals. Many of these facilities have converted to outpatient-only centers or stopped offering services like labor and delivery. The Congressional Budget Office estimates Medicaid cuts will total $911 billion over the next ten years. These cuts put hundreds more rural hospitals at risk of closing. As ground ambulance stations struggle to stay open, air teams are handling a larger share of patient transport.
Nicholas George, who runs the ETHOS Database, says the need for air medical services is increasing every year. Flight nurses and paramedics often transport patients from small local hospitals to larger trauma centers. Last year, a patient in northern Maine died while dispatchers called 10 ambulance services that did not respond.
Retaining skilled staff has been a major challenge for the industry. Almost a quarter of ground-based emergency medical service workers leave the field annually. Flight clinicians face long shifts, unpredictable hours, and high mental health burdens. For years, LifeFlight retained only 60 to 70 percent of its workers.
Joe Kellner, the company's CEO, took office in 2023 and introduced the Critical Care Academy. This is a six to eight month orientation program for new hires. The company also hired a full-time mental health counselor. Kellner states that the cost of training a new employee is approximately $100,000. He argues that keeping two or three current staff members through counseling is a wise investment.
Paramedic Brian Merklin joined LifeFlight after leaving the profession for a few years following a stint in Nevada. He credits the company's support systems for helping him return. He notes that he has never worked elsewhere where such support was actually provided. The company recently hired a mentor from its own program. For the first time in nine years, LifeFlight is nearly fully staffed.
