wnba Charters, “stressed to the max,” and a big mistake at LHR.
WNBA Players getting private charters?
The issue of private air travel has come to the forefront of free agent conversations around the WNBA, multiple sources told ESPN.
The reason? Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner.
After she was released from a Russian prison in December, it's widely assumed that Griner will need to fly privately due to security concerns. Unlike the 30 NBA teams, the 12 WNBA teams currently travel on commercial airlines, except in rare circumstances. While commissioner Cathy Engelbert has pledged to address the issue, there has been no meaningful progress or timeline for implementing charter air travel in the near future.
The New York Liberty, one of the four teams courting Stewart in free agency, was fined a record $500,000 for chartering flights during the 2022 season. Currently, the WNBA and its owners have decided that no team can fly charter -- even if its ownership can pay for it -- unless all teams can afford to fly charter. It is estimated that chartering travel for all teams would cost close to $30 million.
Air travel is “stressed to the max.”
If airlines are to prevent service issues similar to those that recently occurred, they must have far greater back-up in place, as stated by United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby in an interview with Christine Romans on CNN this week.
Kirby described how, in 2021, the aviation system is intensely strained in many areas – including FAA staff, systems, aircraft manufacturing, and piloting – meaning that any disruption has an amplified effect. “It just doesn’t take much to break the back of the system,” he noted.
Thus, the only way for airlines to guarantee a degree of resilience is to make more aircraft and staff available than previously done pre-pandemic. As an example, Kirby reported that United currently has 25% more backup planes and 10% more pilots for each block hour than before. While this comes at a greater expense for airlines, increased demand for travel and limited seating availability leads to higher fares than ever before.
However, he argued that one can still find competitive pricing. “You could still often pay less for your airfare than the Uber to get you to the airport costs,” he commented. Results from United's last financial report confirm this – passengers paid an average of 21% more for every mile flown during the fourth quarter of 2020 than in the same period of 2019.
With a view to increasing capacity and personnel, United has made two major aircraft orders in the past two years. In June 2021, the biggest order in its history was made, comprising 200 Boeing 737 Max jets and 70 Airbus A321neo planes, while in December it added at least 100 more 737 Max jets and 100 787 Dreamliners.
The airline also established its own pilot training academy – the Aviate academy – as a pathway for the “next generation”. Astonishingly, 70% of its first graduates are either female or from minority backgrounds, compared to a much lower figure (19%) for United pilots as a whole.
Thus, with more back-up aircraft and personnel in place, as well as a focus on widening access to flight training, United Airlines and its peers are making every effort to build a stronger aviation system.
First day of work blunder.
On January 16th, 2023, a costly error made by a rookie British Airways cabin crew member saw the airline suffer an estimated loss of more than $60,000 (£50,000). The unfortunate incident occurred during takeoff at London's Heathrow Airport, when the employee accidentally activated the plane's emergency slide while the Boeing 777 was still on the stand.
Emergency services were quickly called to the scene in response to the potential incident, and airline engineers had to intervene in order to resolve the situation, resulting in the British Airways flight being delayed for roughly an hour and missing its allocated take-off slot. To apologize for the inconvenience, the passengers continued their flight to Lagos with the same crew, except for the new employee, on a different aircraft.
