Need info on charter operations for college basketball

[Guest]

Is there anybody here familiar with how college basketball teams travel to road games? Charter flights? Commercial? How many usually go as a unit, including staff? (I'm guessing 25-30 people, but I may be way off.) What kind of planes are used, esp. for the smaller airports? I'm thinking of doing a flight series based on one of my favorite teams only I have *no* idea how they travel these days ...Thanks in advance,Dick Muldoon

[Guest]

Some of the largest most wealthy teams probably have their own (leased or chartered) aircraft.Smaller ones would rent or charter one as the need arises or travel on regular flights.Shorter hops are most likely travelled in tour busses or on trains, as that is a lot cheaper.

[Guest P3_Super_Bee]

Give your favorite team a call. They might tell ya, might not.I know the Oakland Raiders charter an aircraft from Hawaiian Airlines.:-outtahttp://publish.hometown.aol.com/p3superb/images/675-2fs.jpg

[ejoiner 21]

A lot of NBA teams own their own planes. The Atlanta Hawks and the Miami Heat do for sure. The Hawks have a B737-200. The Heat I think had 727, but may have changed that now.The Phoenix Suns charter from America West, but the Arizona Diamondback I think now have their own 757.When I was in school at Auburn back in the early 80's, The basketball team used to either take a bus to games within 200 miles, or fly on university provided airplanes. A lot of times they used to fly commercial. The Auburn football team charters from Delta.Eric

[Guest]

Thanks. I did try Indiana, but they chose not to reveal anything about the way they travel for security reasons. Seems odd, given how widely published game schedules are, but I'm certainly not going to push for info they don't want me to have ... Besides, I think half their road games are or should be bus trips. I was assuming that well-traveled schools like Kansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Minnesota, Notre Dame, etc. would charter/lease a 727, maybe a 737, and sell the extra seats to boosters/students. No need for the info, just curious, and trying to be as real as *I* can get ...Dick

[Guest]

I seem to remember when I was reading "A Season on the Brink" that Indiana used a G-1 Gulfstream that was owned by something called the "Hoosier Foundation" or something.There was a tragic accident a few years back on a BE200 (King Air) carrying part of a bball team out of Colorado in snow.....Northwest had 5 727s outfitted for sports charters and I think they still maintain that fleet, but not 100% sure anymore.If you have access to a flight tracking program you might be able to plug in a city pair following an IU game and see if an odd-ball flight shows up late at night/early AM.I was sitting in the stands at the Ohio State vs Notre Dame game and watched the OSU chartered American West fly in (ND Stadium is almost under the approach to Rwy 27L).Tim