More Videos
- Boise State's Brilliant Stock Plan
- USC Football Blog Leads All-Access Space
- Agassi Book Buzz Paying Off Early
- Yankees Team Signed Ball Selling For $3,500
- Moon Hopes To Complete Amazing Story
- These Poker Stories Are No Bluff
- Did Matsui Make Contract Money Last Night?
- Adidas Out At UCF After MJ's Son Wears Jordans
- If Yanks Win, Merchandise Will Fly Off Shelves
- Final World Series Games Big Money Makers
RSS FEED
MOST SHARED
- Warren Buffett and Bill Gates Share Their 'Optimism' With Eager Columbia Business Students
- Meet The Leaders of the New Retail Revolution
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Housing Recovery 'Still In Uncharted Territory': HUD Secretary
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Limited Options To Boost Jobs
- Disney CFO and Parks Chief to Swap Roles
- Microsoft's Bill Gates Praises Apple's Steve Jobs For 'Saving the Company'
- Gold Is a Bad Inflation Hedge—Like Oil: Stock Picker
- Intel's Andy Bryant Offers An Explanation
- US 'Actively Working' on Weaker Dollar: Fund Manager
- Options Boil on Biotech Buyout Rumors
- Warren Buffett's $100,000 Offer and $500,000 Advice for Columbia Business School Students
- Activision Blizzard's "Modern Warfare 2" Sales Break Records
- 5-Star Manager's 5 Stocks for Changing Markets
- What's The Forecast from Retailers? Proceed With Caution
- Job Market Politics to Keep Interest Rates Low
- AIG, Symbol of Crisis, Watches Its Stock Zoom Back
- Disney Profit, Sales Top Street Forecasts; Shares Jump
- Cities With the Most Home Price Reductions
- Cramer: The Real Reason Stocks Fell Thursday
- Is Euphoric Market Ignoring Warning Signs?
- Video Game Sales Plunge, but Have They Hit Bottom?
- Despite Rhetoric, Obama Has Few Options to Boost Jobs
- US Debating What to Do With Billions of TARP Money Left
Sports Biz
Text Size 
Picture this: After five games, the Los Angeles Lakers are up on the San Antonio Spurs three games to two in this year’s Western Conference Finals.
Two jets fly the Lakers and Spurs from Los Angeles back to San Antonio for Game Six. But that airline won’t be able to take them back to Los Angeles for the final game should the Spurs prevail.
Why? Because Champion Air, the charter airline that flies 14 NBA teams--including both the Spurs and the Lakers-–is going out of business on May 31, the same day a Game Six would be played.
 |
Cubbie_n_vegas Champion Air |
That means that the NBA will have to find a replacement for Champion, whose contract was supposed to expire at the end of the season, but must discontinue service due to the economic slowdown, the tight credit markets and $130 a barrel oil.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass told me that they are currently reviewing their options, including have the teams fly with a major carrier (not commercial) or perhaps a well-known charter service.
Champion was an ideal charter service for the NBA because six of its planes were fitted to have only 59 seats, all first class. But it’s got to be uncomfortable now.
It’s one thing if an airline files for bankruptcy and continues operating like United and Frontier, it’s another thing if an airline is ceasing operations like EOS, Maxjet, Aloha, ATA and Skybus.
I don’t think I would want to be on one of those flights, let alone the precious cargo that makes up the Spurs and the Lakers.
The San Antonio News-Express reported last month that these planes had an unusual amount of incidents though Champion Air challenged the findings. All I know is that these planes are 727’s – which means that the youngest this model plane can be is 23 years old.
Fourteen NBA teams flew this year with Champion Air, which started as MGM Grand Air. These teams will fly specially-fitted Northwest [NWA
Loading...
()
] planes next year.
Update: Henry Abbott of ESPN.com's TrueHoop is reporting that the Spurs plane was grounded last night after they beat the New Orleans Hornets. According to the report, the Spurs slept on the plane. Sources have confirmed this report. The plane had mechanical problems. Another plane was sent.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes