Liberty stars Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones saluted while coach Sandy Brondello applauded when informed during a Zoom media call that the WNBA would launch a program to allow all 12 teams to fly charter this season .
The trio were asked their reaction to the news while speaking to reporters ahead of their 101-53 preseason loss to the Chicago Sky.
“We’re going to charter the Connecticut,” Stewart joked after the reporter finished her question.
“We think it’s incredible if it’s true,” Jones added. “There are a lot of games this season, and we want to be able to play our best and the charter will definitely help us.”
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said Tuesday during a meeting with sports editors in New York that the WNBA intends to “fund a full-time charter for this season” and added that charter flights would begin “as soon as we can get the planes in place.”
Charter flights – or lack thereof – for WNBA teams have been a huge point of contention in recent years for the league’s players and came to the forefront last season as some of the league’s biggest stars league, including Stewart, called upon them in need.
The WNBA had already said during April’s draft that it planned to again pay for charter flights for the entire playoffs in addition to back-to-back games in the coming year.
The league will have a busier schedule to compensate for the break that will occur during the Olympic Games in late July and early August.
The issue of charter flights was at the forefront again recently when Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever were mobbed by cameras as they arrived in Dallas for a preseason game on a commercial flight.
Concern over player safety following the incident has again sparked outcry over the need for charter flights, something Stewart also mentioned Tuesday.
“Understanding the health and well-being of the players, but also their safety,” Stewart said. “And making sure we can get from point A to point B and focus on our job and our teammates. Not all the other things that are happening besides that.
The Liberty has been at the forefront of the fight for charter flights since owners Joe and Clara Wu Tsai took control of the team in 2019.
The team was even fined $500,000 for CBA violations after the WNBA discovered that Tsai provided the team with charter flights during the second half of the 2021 season.
The WNBA season begins May 14, and the Liberty open the year on the road against the Washington Mystics.
New York Post
