This is a very personal choice. There are dangers to having a flighted parrot, such as escaping from the house, flying into windows, flying into open toilets, fish tanks, or over pots of cooking food and much more.
I wanted a flighted bird for the health benefits. Additionally....it's a bird, he has wings and was created to fly. Just my feelings. When I started looking for a breeder that was my initial question, "Can you keep the baby Eclectus flighted?" He made his way to us flighted and has never been clipped.
As I have dogs and a cat in the house it's also a benefit that he can fly to move from danger. That being said I am very very careful when he is out and watch him and the other pets closely. When he is out our large dog is either outside or in her crate as she has shown interest and I'm sure could jump and nab him from mid flight. I've seen our big dog almost snatch a magpie or two in our yard. I also keep our cat in the basement when he is out as she does stalking behavior and still a kitten loves to chase.
In our home we have set rules from day one with Viggo being flighted. Doors to outside are closed and locked and my daughters know not to go in and out of the house if Viggo is out of the cage. He's very good at flying and making turns and I've heard of many flighted birds slipping through a door and escaping outside.
I keep our blinds down but open so that Viggo avoids windows. Additionally toilet lids are kept down and Viggo is put in his cage when we cook.
I love watching Viggo and his brilliant colors when he is in flight. Being flighted allows him to go from his cage to his stands, he can go from upstairs to the main floor, and do turns to find me in my room. It helps release pent up energy. I've seen birds that cannot fly do what I refer to as a lean and point where they indicate where they want to go, with their wings tucked in they do a little flapping and sometimes scream to be moved by their owner to the place they want to go. I didn't want that.
Clicker training helped with teaching Viggo the ropes around the house, we taught him recall (<--- a must with a flighted bird) and to only come to us when called. Before we taught him to come when called he would always fly to us and I wanted him to be a little more independant and use his stands, plus if I had my hands full or was doing something where I didn't want him he would always come to me. So I used the clicker to train him to stay unless called.
When Viggo goes outside with us it's either in his pak-o-bird carrier for walks with us or into an outdoor cage. I also used the clicker to train him to go into his carrier, as that was an initial struggle for us, he refused to go in for the longest time. No issues now, he happily goes into his carrier. I've considered trying a harness and still might one day, although I have heard people talk of hawks swooping down and snatching a parrot right off their shoulder. We live very close to a river and huge park where I see Eagles and Hawks daily on my walks.
The downside of having a flighted bird...Viggo has had times where he gets pretty bratty and flies up high where we cannot get him, or opts not to listen to recall. Only once have I ever had his wings trimmed and it was very slight. The reason I did was because of a similar situation. When we did, Viggo had been flying all over and in our front foyer we have high ceilings 16ft with a window. Well after not returning when called he zipped all over literally laughing at me, and took off to the window. He hit it square and fell to the floor below. Thankfully he wasn't hurt, just stunned. The next day he again zipped all over being a stinker and did a pass by the window only to land by the ledge way up and would not come down. So I had his wings slightly trimmed to keep him in a safe zone and in a way show him who was boss. He could still fly, so I hadn't removed his ability of flight, just took his ability to gain height. Since that one time he has never again gone wild with flight and not returned when called. Now when we do his recall he comes, no issues. I would never guarantee recall if I allowed him outside however. Despite our bond and the fact he listens 99.9% of the time with his recall there is too many dangers and too much uncertainty.
If I was to get another parrot, it too would be fully flighted. The benefits are far too great. My suggestion to others considering a bird would be to ask the breeder to allow the bird to fledge and develop strong flight. That way even if the bird comes with a slight clip or full clip it has learned to fly and the option of allowing flight later is possible. If they never learn it's not the easiest to train later if at all.
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