WNBA to begin using charter flights on full-time basis this season once they can get the planes

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert broke the news Tuesday at a meeting with sports editors

By Jack Maloney May 9, 2024 at 7:13 pm ET• 4 min read

The WNBA has formally announced a plan to begin using charter flights on a full-time basis this season. This comes just days after commissioner Cathy Engelbert told sports editors at a meeting in New York City on Tuesday that the league will make the transition to charter flights "as soon as we can get planes in places." 

Delta Airlines will be the primary transportation provider for the program, which will cost about $25 million per year over the next two seasons. 

"We are thrilled to announce the launch of a full charter program as soon as practical for the 2024 and 2025 seasons, a testament to the continued growth of the WNBA," Engelbert stated in a press release on Thursday. "We have been hard at work to transform the business and build a sustainable economic model to support charter flights for the long term. While we still have a lot of work to do to continue to execute our strategic plan, we feel confident that the time is now to institute a full charter program to demonstrate our commitment to leading with a player-first agenda." 

Just last month, Engelbert announced the league would pay for charter flights for all playoff games and all back-to-back travel situations this season that required air travel. Still, the majority of flights were set to be commercial, as they have been for the league's entire history.