[ibimage==28388==Large==https://freshjets.com==self==ibimage_align-center]

Last month, I received a phone call from the athletic department at my alma mater, the University of Denver (DU). A short conversation pursued and I was extremely excited because they needed help finding an aircraft to fly the Men’s Lacrosse Team to the NCAA tournament in Delaware. Immediately, I found options for the team but at the last-minute, their travel management company came through with a 50-seat aircraft to get them there. I was pretty bummed out but what can you do? It’s business.

After crushing Drexel that Sunday 15-6, there were potentially two big games left in Baltimore for the Final Four. It was Monday night at 10pm and my phone rang again. They needed to leave on Wednesday and there was nothing available. Not only did they need some help, the previous week they didn’t have the best experience. The 50-seater was a regional jet with very small seats and very little cargo space. As you can imagine, cramming a 42-man roster and staff on a 50-seater is fairly tight. They also travel with quite a bit of gear and they had to remove their lacrosse sticks from their bags and put them in the overhead bins up in the cabin. To top it off, the aircraft arrived in Philadelphia three hours late to pick them up so they arrived back in Denver at 3am Monday morning. After hearing this, I knew we could do better.

The team’s backup plan was a series of commercial flights and would have involved splitting up the team and for obvious reasons, they wanted to avoid this at all costs. This time around we were ready for that phone call and had the most suitable plane for sports charters on hold. For a team of student-athletes still enrolled in full-time classes and competing for a championship, they deserved an experience better than the previous week and better than flying commercial. We immediately put them at ease, but it wasn’t easy.

Flying sports teams, especially ones competing for championships can be very challenging. First, the process involves many decision-makers with different considerations and objectives. For example, coaches consider scheduling and travel time and athletic directors and the NCAA consider the business side of added costs and budget constraints. Second, there are two possible outcomes: win or lose. If you win, you may play another game or go to a different location and if you lose, you want to leave as soon as possible or you may have to go to a different location or get back home.

Unfortunately, there are very few charter aircraft available and/or flexible to suit these needs and even more so, they are very difficult to find. It also bring many added costs depending on the outcome of the game, such as repositioning, pre-ordered catering, ground transportation and much more. This leaves many parties on standby pending the outcome of the game.

So why doesn’t the aircraft stay with the team until they need to leave? Great question, but finding an aircraft that is willing to stay with the team in that location for the duration of the trip is even more difficult and costly so most collegiate and professional organizations avoid it including the Chicago Blackhawks during their chase for the 2014 Stanley Cup. If a plane is sitting on the ground, it is not making any money so you hardly see this in the world of charters.

The Boeing 737-VIP configured jet that was flying around the Blackhawks during the playoffs was the same plane that we used for DU’s lacrosse team. After ending up in Chicago after the Hawks secured home ice against the now Stanley Cup Champion – L.A. Kings, this aircraft made the most sense for DU but presented cost and logistics challenges. Days before any of these teams compete, discussions about winning or losing must be had amongst travel coordinators and then decision-makers within the organization must approve two plans – one for a win and one for a loss. The latter is definitely an awkward and sensitive subject. Take DU’s considerations prior to takeoff:

• Pickup in Denver on Wednesday to head to Baltimore for a Saturday game
• Aircraft could not stay in Baltimore because of trips on Thursday and Sunday
• Aircraft heads to Chicago to fly the Hawks to L.A. and then to Indianapolis for Saturday’s trip
• WIN: fly back late Monday evening – aircraft is already in Baltimore and needs to go to L.A.
• LOSE: fly back Saturday evening – aircraft repositions from Indy to Baltimore to fly to Denver and then back to Indy – adding a costly flight segment

Why is this significant? A loss scenario increases the price by 23%. With a win, the flight back was much cheaper because the plane was already in Baltimore and had to be in L.A. on Monday to pickup the Hawks and bring them back to Chicago for Game 7 and Denver happens to be on the way to L.A. Fortunately for DU, the NCAA covers travel expenses for teams participating in their tournaments to maintain fair competition.

Whether DU won or lost, we wanted the best for these guys because like I said earlier – they earned and deserved it and we delivered as promised. I was fortunate to be part of this process from the first phone call to the time we landed back in Denver to ensure the best was delivered. From practices to rallies to dinners and other events in Baltimore, I was a proud fan, alumni and advisor representing and supporting the prestigious university that I attended just a few years prior. And to be doing this on behalf of Fresh Jets… was simply amazing!

Unfortunately, DU lost to Duke University that Saturday morning. Business as usual was tough that day and after making the dreaded phone call to the crew on the ground in Indianapolis, the plane repositioned to Baltimore as the team checked out of the hotel and we headed to the airport. Ensuring everything went smoothly with a two-hour window is not easy but where we strive. There weren’t any hiccups and off we went.

The trip went by very fast, and despite the somber return, one aspect of the trip I’ll remember forever. I walked to the middle of the plane to retrieve something from an overhead bin and there was a group of players sitting at the table playing cards and they looked at me, said thank you for putting this together and shook my hand. The same thing happened when we landed with others. It was bittersweet, but the humility shown by these guys, the coaching staff and athletic department as a whole says a lot about DU.

We are grateful to DU for this opportunity because it has opened many doors here at Fresh Jets as talks with other universities and organizations have begun. We understand the process, have extensive partnerships with aircraft operators small and big, we are present the entire time and we always deliver. We know what works for corporate groups retreats and sports teams, and most importantly, we know what doesn’t work for them because we listen, adapt and execute. Win or lose, we know flying sports teams is a business.

By Timmy Wozniak

Timmy is the Co-founder and CEO of Fresh Jets, an app that aggregates private jet schedule and pricing information and matches inventory to the travel needs of businesses and individuals instantly. Become a member today by signing up here.