The WNBA’s growth, converging with this year’s historic draft class, has brought more eyes to the league and more scrutiny. People already have plenty to say about WNBA salaries, and now the conversation has shifted to charter flights. Again.
Charter flights are a known issue that became a hot-button topic after a Brittney Griner incident last year but have resurfaced with the introduction of stars like Caitlin Clark.
At some point — perhaps when players can opt out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) by November 1, 2024 — the WNBA will have to address charter flights fully.
If Brittney Griner and her teammates being harassed at DFW Airport in 2023 — to the point that legitimate security concerns surfaced — wasn’t enough to shift the conversation, perhaps Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and their Fever teammates walking through that same airport in 2024 might help the whispers become full-on screams.
JUST IN: #CaitlinClark has arrived in Dallas ahead of her WNBA debut against the @DallasWings!
She and fellow @IndianaFever players were seen leaving @DFWAirport moments ago.
They play the Wings in a friendly pre-season matchup tomorrow night!
(@wfaa) pic.twitter.com/pXXQFV4gVk
— Matt Howerton (@HowertonNews) May 2, 2024
In 2023, the league announced it would offer charter flights during back-to-back regular season games and through the playoffs. Admittedly, that helped, but it won’t immediately solve the security concerns or many other issues that come with athletes flying commercial, including additional travel hours and loss of recovery time, as Dallas Wings star Satou Sabally pointed out last season.
Also, the hefty price tag associated with providing charter flights for all 12 WNBA teams could make this an eyesore for quite some time.Per ESPN’s Mike Voepel, WBNA commissioner Cathy Engelbert acknowledged that footing that bill could be an uphill battle.
Here’s what Engelbert shared last year:
“And the thing some people are missing is that this isn’t a one-year funding,” Engelbert told ESPN. “This is something you’ve got to fund — I want to say in perpetuity — but let’s say you have to make sure you have a business model to fund it for at least a decade.
“So even if you brought a sponsor in to fund it one year … sponsors can come and go. So you’ve got to make sure you have an economic model that is feasible to fund it long-term.”
The charter flight conundrum won’t be solved right now, but perhaps this is the year that ultimately elevates the standard of care for WNBA athletes. WNBA Players Association president Nneka Ogwumike will almost certainly bring this issue to CBA discussions once the season ends, and you’ll want to grab your popcorn for the league’s response.
