Wednesday game:
Northern Illinois @ Toledo
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KRFD/KTOL
Thursday games:
Rutgers @ Central Florida
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KEWR/KMCO
Rice @ UAB
flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA8 … /KHOU/KBHM
UNLV @ Air Force
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KLAS/KCOS
Friday game:
Navy @ San Jose State
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KBWI/KSJC
Saturday games:
Memphis @ Louisville
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KMEM/KSDF
Virginia @ Miami (FL)
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KCHO/KFLL
Pittsburgh @ Syracuse
flightaware.com/live/flight/AWE9 … /KPIT/KSYR
Massachusetts @ Central Michigan
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KCEF/KLAN
Hawaii @ Wyoming [mainland leg]
flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA8 … /KLAX/KLAR
New Mexico State @ Florida Atlantic
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KELP/KFLL
Idaho @ Florida State
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KLWS/KTLH
BYU @ Notre Dame
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KPVU/KSBN
Nebraska @ Penn State
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KLNK/KUNV
Marshall @ Florida International
flightaware.com/live/flight/AWE9 … /KHTS/KMIA
SMU @ South Florida
flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA8 … /KDAL/KTPA
Kentucky @ Georgia
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KLEX/KATL
Western Kentucky @ Texas State
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KBWG/KAUS
Missouri @ Mississippi
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KCOU/KMEM
South Dakota State @ Youngstown State
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK8 … /KFSD/KYNG
Cincinnati @ Houston
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KCVG/KHOU
Michigan @ Iowa
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KDTW/KCID
Mississippi State @ Arkansas [Little Rock, AR]
flightaware.com/live/flight/TRS7 … /KGTR/KLIT
Boston College @ Maryland
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KBOS/KBWI
UTSA @ North Texas
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KSAT/KDFW
Middle Tennessee @ Southern Miss
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KMQY/KPIB
UTEP @ Tulane
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KELP/KMSY
Arizona State @ UCLA
flightaware.com/live/flight/AWE9 … /KPHX/KBUR
Tulsa @ Louisiana Tech
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KBHM/KTUL
USC @ Colorado
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KLAX/KDEN
Boise State @ San Diego State
flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KBOI/KSAN
Washington @ Oregon State
flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA7 … /KSEA/KEUG
Oklahoma @ Kansas State
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KOKC/KMHK
Oregon @ Arizona
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KEUG/KTUS
Texas A&M @ LSU
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KCLL/KBTR
New Mexico @ Fresno State
flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KABQ/KFAT
Baylor @ Oklahoma State
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KACT/KOKC
Colorado State @ Utah State
flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KFNL/KLGU
Utah @ Washington State
flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KSLC/KPUW
Kentucky took three CRJs home from KAHN, as discussed earlier in the thread. Standard practice in/out of KAHN, as the airport is too small to handle anything larger:
flightaware.com/live/flight/ASQ5 … /KAHN/KLEX
flightaware.com/live/flight/ASQ5 … /KAHN/KLEX
flightaware.com/live/flight/ASQ5 … /KAHN/KLEX
They flew into KATL on a Delta B738, though.
Friday games:
East Carolina @ Marshall
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KPGV/KHTS
Texas State @ Troy
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KAUS/KMGM
Arkansas @ LSU
flightaware.com/live/flight/AAL9 … /KFYV/KBTR
Miami (FL) @ Pittsburgh
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KMIA/KPIT
Washington State @ Washington
flightaware.com/live/flight/ASA7653 (permalink vanished!)
Saturday games:
Minnesota @ Michigan State
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KMSP/KLAN
Temple @ Memphis
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KPHL/KMEM
Wake Forest @ Vanderbilt
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KGSO/KBNA
Maryland @ North Carolina State
flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA8 … /KBWI/KRDU
Colorado @ Utah
flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KDEN/KSLC
Wyoming @ Utah State
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KLAR/KLGU
BYU @ Nevada
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KPVU/KRNO
Idaho @ New Mexico State
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KLWS/KELP
Louisiana Tech @ UTSA
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KMLU/KSAT
UTEP @ Middle Tennessee
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KELP/KMQY
Iowa State @ West Virginia
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KDSM/KCKB
Notre Dame @ Stanford
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KSBN/KSFO
Army @ Hawaii
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KSWF/PHNL
Southern Utah @ Sam Houston State
flightaware.com/live/flight/AJI9 … /KCDC/KCLL
South Dakota State @ Northern Arizona
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KFSD/KFLG
Tulane @ Rice
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KMSY/KIAH
Texas A&M @ Missouri
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KCLL/KCOU
New Mexico @ Boise State
flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KABQ/KBOI
San Diego State @ UNLV
flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KSAN/KLAS
Boston College @ Syracuse
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KBOS/KSYR
I find it odd that football teams will fly commercial. Wouldn’t they take up practically the whole plane? And do they go through security like normal? Or do they go through a different way? I think it would be funny to see an entire D1 football team waiting in the TSA line.
Flying commercial seems to be pretty rare among the major college programs. Most of them prefer to charter flights, probably for reasons of privacy (limiting access to players and coaches), as much as for convenience.
One notable exception is Hawaii - they almost always seem to fly HAL commercial between Honolulu and the mainland. HAL generally runs 767s on those routes, and it would likely be prohibitively expensive to charter one of those just for the team. Renting out half a 767 is probably a lot more affordable, relatively speaking.
You do tend to see a few more of the mid-majors and smaller programs flying commercial, also probably for economic reasons. If you happen to be situated near a major airport that is already served by a route that takes you where you want to go, buying seats on only 3/4 of the plane probably saves you a bit of money.
Also, the players don’t have much with them other than their phones and MP3 players, etc so they fly through security. At TUL, they opened up a line specifically to get the Tulsa football team through so they didn’t clog up the other lines. It is really a non-event, but yes, they take up the vast majority of the plane, but since the equipmnent goes by truck, there aren’t a bunch of bags to worry about as well. Typically, when I worked with the Tulsa team, we only flew commercial to Dallas (SMU & TCU), Houston (UH & Rice), and once to ABQ (UNM). All were on Southwest and we had a charter SWA flight to return on so I am willing to bet they cut Tulsa a good deal on the flights.
Economics are playing a bigger part in the mid-majors. North Texas bussed both directions for the game against Tulsa this past week. Coming from Denton, that makes sense since it would take just as long to load the team, drive to DFW or DAL, get on the plane, fly, get off the plane, and get to campus/hotel, so the bus would be the more economical way to go.
Week 15
Saturday games:
Central Florida @ SMU
flightaware.com/live/flight/JBU8 … /KSFB/KDAL
Memphis @ Connecticut
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KMEM/KBDL
Missouri vs. Auburn [SEC Championship - Atlanta, GA]
flightaware.com/live/flight/NCR6 … /KCOU/KATL
flightaware.com/live/flight/TRS7 … /KCOU/KATL (fans/boosters)
South Florida @ Rutgers
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KTPA/KEWR
Florida State vs. Duke [ACC Championship - Charlotte, NC]
flightaware.com/live/flight/DAL8 … /KTLH/KCLT
Utah State @ Fresno State
flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KLGU/KFAT
Stanford @ Arizona State [Pac-12 Championship]
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KSJC/KPHX
flightaware.com/live/flight/UAL1 … /KSJC/KPHX (fans/boosters)
FCS Playoff Games:
Coastal Carolina @ Montana
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KMYR/KMSO
Furman @ North Dakota State
flightaware.com/live/flight/TRS7 … /KGSP/KFAR
South Dakota State @ Eastern Washington
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KFSD/KGEG
FCS Playoffs:
Towson @ Eastern Illinois
flightaware.com/live/flight/AJI9 … /KBWI/KCMI
Coastal Carolina @ North Dakota State
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KMYR/KFAR
Jacksonville State @ Eastern Washington
flightaware.com/live/flight/NCR7 … /KBHM/KGEG
New Hampshire @ Southeastern Louisiana
flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KPSM/KMSY
To add to this thread. Some of the smaller airports where these schools are located do not meet CFR 139 Airport Crash, Fire and Rescue equipment plus personal required for FAR Part 121 live flights. I’ve encountered that many times when scheduling charters for schools when the return time is late and no one from the fire department will meet the flight cause they work for the city and won’t come out at 2am for an arrival. Airport logistics such as runway performance can cause airlines headaches also. No airline except for Xtra Airways will go into Las Cruces with large 121 equipment. The runways and taxiways all have weight issues even though the airport is plenty large enough. We sunk a 757-200 there years ago, leaving damage. We used 3 ERJ-145s a couple seasons ago to save them a bus ride to El Paso, TX. Pullman, WA is another one where most airlines won’t go except for Alaska and Frontier. The parallel taxiway must be closed during large airline operations at PUW as 737 or A320 wings hang near the only taxiway causing safety issues during arrivals and departures. Most airlines will go into Lewiston, ID and bus up tp Washington State or Idaho for ease. Rounding up the TSA is another story, Ive had flights I couldn’t get the TSA to drive over to the airport the school wanted to use and we had to use the main airport causing more expense and travel time for the school. Lots of factors go into each of these flights and getting the TSA on-sight can be the biggest issue. A TSA agent can not be on duty and works as a contractor, paid a cash fee typically $100 per flight and will van pool if the airport is away from their homebase. I’ve seen many wierd things happen on the road in my 20 years of NCAA charters.
Bowl Games - Saturday, December 21
Gildan New Mexico Bowl - Albuquerque, NM
Colorado State: flightaware.com/live/flight/FFT8 … /KFNL/KABQ
Washington State: flightaware.com/live/flight/NAO2 … /KGEG/KABQ
Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl - Las Vegas, NV
Fresno State: flightaware.com/live/flight/GTI8 … /KFAT/KLAS
USC: flightaware.com/live/flight/AWE9 … /KLAX/KLAS
Famous Idaho Potato Bowl - Boise, ID
Buffalo: flightaware.com/live/flight/GTI8 … /KBUF/KBOI
San Diego State: flightaware.com/live/flight/NAO1 … /KSAN/KBOI
Bowl Game - Monday, December 23
Beef O’Brady’s Bowl - St. Petersburg, FL
East Carolina: flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KPGV/KPIE
East Carolina: flightaware.com/live/flight/BSK3 … /KPGV/KPIE
Ohio: flightaware.com/live/flight/AJI9 … /KLCK/KPIE
Ohio: flightaware.com/live/flight/RPA8 … /KLCK/KPIE
Bowl Game - Tuesday, December 24
Sheraton Hawaii Bowl - Honolulu, HI
Boise State: flightaware.com/live/flight/OAE2 … /KBOI/PHNL
Oregon State: flightaware.com/live/flight/GTI8 … /KPDX/PHNL
And just for fun, here is an article with picture of Oregon State, getting ready to board the plane to Honolulu to take on Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl. Enjoy!
FCS Playoffs - Saturday, December 21
New Hampshire @ North Dakota State
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KPSM/KFAR
Towson @ Eastern Washington
flightaware.com/live/flight/SCX8 … /KBWI/KGEG
Very interesting, thanks for the info!
Snowboss