NFL grounds plans to get into jet set

The New England Patriots bought two 767s last year, meaning they don’t have to worry about the average of $4 million per club it cost to lease planes last season. Getty Images

The NFL’s football operations group has ceased efforts to buy or lease a fleet of charter jets for teams struggling with the escalating costs of air travel. The league in May told owners it expected to have a proposal ready for the October meeting, but that will not occur.

“The league tried to get enough teams, if we could get our packets together and work it through the league, but I don’t think that is going to work out,” said Mark Murphy, the Green Bay Packers’ president. “It’s a big issue for all of us.”

With the airline industry flying at near capacity, securing team charters is increasingly difficult. Costs last year doubled to an average of nearly $4 million per club for those leasing planes, team sources have said, and that rise looks likely to continue. Some teams worry that they could find themselves without access to charters as airlines decide the planes are better used in traditional commercial roles.

That will not be the case in 2018, said NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy. He said the league dropped its planning because all 32 clubs were prepared, but the subject may be taken up again in the future.

Murphy said the planning owners were briefed on in May was never about getting a solution for 2018.

“We were all on our own this year,” he said. “The league solution was off one or two years.” Not enough teams expressed interest to make the idea worthwhile, he said.

At the May spring owners’ meeting in Atlanta, NFL football operations executives presented several options, including one in which the league would invest capital into a new company that would secure long-term rights to the jets from a specific airline. Another option was for the league to negotiate on behalf of a group of teams with a single carrier.

The NBA for several years has secured planes for most of its clubs through an exclusive deal with Delta. However, the NBA has far more trips to offer an airline, with 10 times the number of regular-season games and a far longer postseason. And the airplanes are smaller because there are fewer players on an NBA roster. 

MLB and the NHL leave travel decisions to the teams.

Not all NFL teams are in dire straits. The New England Patriots last year purchased two 767s, and clubs located in cities that are hubs for airlines — like Dallas, Atlanta and New York — often find it easier because the airlines have more planes available there. But teams in smaller markets such as Green Bay, Baltimore and Jacksonville often have to turn to high-cost leasing firms. Murphy cited travel costs as  one reason the Packers’ revenue declined in the most recent fiscal year.