Earlier this year I wrote about how American Airlines was dropping the charter contracts for several NFL teams. Apparently capacity is becoming constrained as airlines retire some of the widebodies that can carry an entire NFL team’s players, coaches, staff, and equipment. I also speculated that the airlines may just be redeploying assets to more…
Continue reading: New England Patriots Solve Charter Issues By Purchasing Two B767s
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
$10m for two 767s seems like a real steal. Of course how much did they spend on fit out of the interior?
It makes more sense, with all the money these teams have they could buy better planes, but this was a smart move, and the fact they can charter them out to other teams.
Waiting for that troll Credit to make some ignorant incendiary comment on this article.
Wonder who holds the AOC?
It isn't all roses owning planes.
The direct and indirect operating costs will make the purchase price look like peanuts. You can't take $10m and divide by 4 to come up with ownership cost. Not by a long shot.
I'm not saying it won't work for them, but your 'rent' adage hits a chord here.
Good luck to them!
Their nightmare has just begun. They should leave the airlplane operations to the experts.
They're probably in for a nightmare when it comes to operating costs, but they're not the first sports team to try it. The Canucks and short-lived Grizzlies flew on a place owned by their parent, Orca Bay, during the John McCaw years, which was an old 727: https://www.flickr.com/photos/axel_j/8515500885
@Travis Thank You along with everyone at One Mile at a time. It means a lot that you truly gave me a tip of a hat. I am forever thankful!
$10M to buy planes versus $4M a year for charter does not mean the payback is 2.5 years. The charter cost includes the fuel, the pilots and everything else. I have a feeling those things cost a lot and are not part of the purchase price.
There is a reason most large corporations frown upon or do not allow their top leadership to fly on the same airplane. If the plane crashes and inevitably everybody dies, there's nobody to run the company. If you Google 'List of plane crashes involving sports teams' or something similar, there is a list going back to 1948 through 2016 of entire teams (or nearly entire teams, as well as coaches, boosters, etc.) wiped out in plane crashes. The one that comes to mind for me personally is the 1961 crash that took the lives of the entire U.S. figure skating team, because 3 people from my home town died in that crash. But you can also look at the Italian national swimming team in 1966, the Puerto Rico women's national volleyball team, the Wichita State Univ. and Marshall State Univ. football teams, all in 1970, the men's basketball team from the University of Evansville in 1977, the US amateur boxing team in 1980, Zambia's national football team in 1993, Men's basketball team fro Oklahoma State Univ. in 2001, and then the Women's basketball team from Oklahoma State in 2011! Wow, talk about lightening striking twice! Other modes of transportation, if there are crashes, don't typically lead to wiping out everybody in the train, bus, van, etc. The Patriots purchase will look smart, especially if they can manage the associated costs -- as long as there's no tragedy associated with it.
I wonder what they will do with these planes for the six months out of the year when there is no football? Maybe there's another use they have in mind. In any event, I think it's great. Surprised MLB teams don't go this route given their much larger travel schedule.
@M.B. - I'm missing your point, charter planes have risk potential so I'm not sure why this purchase would raise risk.
Donna, I think the article mentioned that when the planes have 'down-time' (which could be off-season or during a buy week I suppose) they can rent them out. With regard to charter flights having the risk just as the Patriots' two planes would, I don't think you can get any better maintenance and mechanical professionals than with the major commercial and charter providers who do this day in and day out year-round. You may feel that's a matter of degree, and you may be right, but I'll take that extra measure of professionalism and experience any day.
The two 767s were sourced from Ireland I believe. There were 4 for sale total with an ask of $11.5m each, and a listing I've seen says that two were sold (presumably to the Patriots). The listing was by Mach Aviation Services Ltd. The airframes are roughly 15 years old, but that's not an issue with the limited use they will see in the NFL.
AZCardinals.com: Arizona Cardinals buy their own Boeing 777-200ER for team travel.
https://www.azcardinals.com/news/arizona-cardinals-buy-new-boeing-777-airplane-for-team-travel