WNBA players have been lobbying for charter flights for years, and in the past few seasons, players flying commercial has become a growing safety concern. Players have been harassed walking through airports, touched by strangers and had to strain their bodies more than necessary during commercial travel.
However, the situation is going to change.
“We intend to fund a full-time charter for this season,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said on Tuesday. “We’re going to as soon as we can get it up and running. Maybe it’s a couple weeks, maybe it’s a month. … We are really excited for the prospects here.”
The WNBA previously announced plans to pay for charter flights for the playoffs and for back-to-back games during the regular season.
The new full-time initiative will cost approximately $25 million per year for two years. Allowing players to fly charter flights will allow them to be more refreshed and physically prepared for each game, which will, in turn, allow them to deliver the best product to fans.
“Chartering flights not only is a safety measure, the biggest thing, and then obviously what it means to be able to play a game and go home and rest and recover and be the elite athletes that we try to be every single night when we step out onto this court,” WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike said. “It’s a great day for our league as a whole that we are able to get here and we’re going to continue to grow and continue to build and continue to push for even better.”
The WNBA regular season kicks off on May 14.
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