WASHINGTON — Breanna Stewart has long advocated for charter flights in the WNBA.
Though the league announced this month plans for charter flights throughout the league, she was sitting on a bus Monday afternoon with the Liberty on their way to their season opener in Washington.
“Two out of five WNBA teams traveling today are on WNBA charters — and that’s a win,” she wrote on X Monday. “It could be a bigger one if the W allowed teams who were not offered League charters to secure their own until a full 12 team solution is ready. @WNBA”
On Tuesday, before beating the Mystics at Entertainment and Sports Arena, Stewart was quick to tell The Post that the Liberty is flying commercial to Indiana for their game against the Fever on Thursday.
“I mean, we were on like a five-hour bus ride, which, as you know, anytime you leave in the afternoon from New York, you’re gonna hit traffic from Baltimore and D.C.,” Stewart said. “Like I said, in my tweet, I think the charters is amazing. I think that as the rollout, it’s a little bit of a struggle. The thing that can help the league the best is that if they let the owners who can [arrange the charter flights], also do it. … But [commissioner] Cathy [Engelbert] has kinda preached to be patient and we will. We just want to make sure that everyone can get the charter as soon as possible.”
Engelbert told a group of sports editors on May 7 that the full charter plan will kick off “as soon as we can get planes in places.”
They also added in the press release announcing the plan that charters will be “phased in” beginning with the 2024 season.
“I mean, a 4 ¹/₂ -hour bus ride is never ideal, but it is what it is,” Sabrina Ionescu said. “Excited to see some change in the near future and know that it will be better for our overall performance and ability to perform every single night.”
The Liberty expected to fly charter to Chicago for their first preseason game, Stewart said, until finding out they would have to wait to hear from the league when they will be able to do so.
The Fever and the Lynx were the only two traveling teams to take private flights to Connecticut and Seattle, respectively, for their season-opening games.
Videos and pictures were shared across social media of Caitlin Clark and the Fever spread out throughout the plane relaxing, lounging and enjoying their charter to kick off the season.
Yet, according to ESPN, even the Fever and Lynx aren’t locked in for future charter flights, as they’re still waiting to hear from the league if they will fly private to upcoming away games.
“Hopefully we get the charter sooner than later,” Liberty coach Sandy Brondello said. “I know some teams have but hopefully we’ll be there soon because it’s going to be a great bonus. Flying out to the game, going home, sleep in your own bed, or getting to your next destination means there’s going to be more recovery time.”
The league’s charter plan will cost $25 million over each of the next two seasons, coming in place of only allowing charters in the postseason and for teams playing back-to-back games in the regular season.