WNBA Teams Will Start Flying Charter for All Games Beginning May 21

The WNBA will charter flights for all 12 teams beginning May 21, a spokesperson told The Athletic's Ben Pickman.

"As the league previously announced, we would be phasing in the program at the start of the season, and can share that beginning May 21 all teams will be flying charter to games," the spokesperson told Pickman.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced on May 9 that the league's charter program would be phased in "as soon as practical" beginning with the start of the regular season on May 14.

The WNBA received player criticism for the rollout of the program, under which some teams flew charter flights to their season-openers while others traveled commercially.

The only exception will be trips between Chicago and Indiana, as well as between Connecticut and New York, which will still take place on charter buses, ESPN's Alexa Philippou reported.

The Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx both chartered flights to their respective season-opening games.

Other players who travelled on commercial flights or by bus, including the Chicago Sky's Angel Reese and New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart, expressed dissatisfaction with the rollout.

Philippou reported on Monday ahead of the WNBA's regular-season start that some teams were still waiting for further information about the start of their charter programs, while others awaited details on future charters.

Those questions has now been answered with the promise that WNBA teams will begin the second week of the 2024 regular season with chartered flights.

The league previously allowed teams to charter flights for back-to-back and postseason games, but guaranteed only "premium economy status" on commercial flights for other regular-season contests.

This arrangement led to criticism from players and the WNBPA regarding small seats, delays and airport harassment.

Engelbert has previously said the charter program, which the WNBA said will be mainly run using Delta Air Lines, will cost the league $25 million per season, per ESPN's Michael Voepel.

The league has been able to commit to that cost for at least the next two seasons in part because of the WNBA's growing media fees, which Engelbert told CNBC in April she hopes will "at least double" when the league's next media rights deal starts in 2026.

Media interest in the 2024 WNBA season has already increased. The Fever's season-opening game at the Connecticut Sun drew in 2.1 million viewers, the most for a WNBA game on ESPN since 2004, according to the league.