While Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever took a charter flight to their season opener against the Connecticut Sun, not all WNBA teams did so ahead of the start of the 2024 season.
Chicago Sky 2024 draft pick Angel Reese hopes this will be her last time on a commercial flight.
Reese posted a selfie on her Instagram account from a flight to Dallas, where the Sky will play the Wings on Tuesday night. Her title was very direct.
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Chicago Sky No. 5 Angel Reese watches before a game against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center on May 3, 2024 in Minneapolis. (David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
“Just praying this is one of Chicago Sky’s last commercial flights,” she wrote. “Like the wind [Sky teammate Brianna Turner] “Practice gratitude and patience as the league launches charter flights for all teams,” said.
This has been a hot topic in the WNBA since teams were previously not allowed to book out games for away games.
WNBA to provide full-time charter flights for teams starting this season
New York Liberty owner Joe Tsai, who also owns the Brooklyn Nets, was fined by the league in 2022 for providing charter flights to the team. The reason for the fine was that it violated the league’s collective bargaining agreement, which said it could provide a potentially unfair competitive advantage to teams that cannot afford charter fees.
As a result, WNBA teams fly primarily commercially, which sometimes means traveling all day across the country. However, heading into last season, the league expanded its charter policy to allow private flights for all postseason games, back-to-back games and portions of the regular season.
Now, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said during a meeting with sports editors last week that the league will initiate plans to provide full-time charter flights for its teams “as soon as we can get the planes in place.”
Chicago Sky No. 5 Angel Reese watches before a game against the Minnesota Lynx at Target Center on May 3, 2024 in Minneapolis. (David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Engelbert added that the estimated cost of the charter program over the next two seasons is approximately $25 million per year.
Player safety has always been a focus on commercial flights, an approach the WNBA has taken since its inception in 1997. It made national headlines when the officer was released from a Russian prison.
Six months after the exchange, Griner was the target of “inappropriate and unfortunate” behavior by “social media figures and provocateurs” at the Dallas airport. Alex Stein walks up to Griner and asks her why she “hates” and “still wants it”[s] As she walks alongside her teammates, she resists “America.”
Griner later called it the WNBA’s “rock bottom.”
Many WNBA players have expressed their feelings about commercial flights, including Clark, who said it would be “an adjustment.”
Chicago Sky’s No. 5 Angel Reese prepares to shoot a free throw against the Minnesota Lynx during a WNBA preseason game at Target Center in Minneapolis on May 3, 2024. (David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
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As Reese said, she will work on practicing gratitude and patience while waiting for the WNBA to develop a new plan. She clearly wishes this had come sooner.
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