Brittney Griner will reportedly board charter flights for the remainder of the Mercury’s away games this season after she and her teammates dealt with “inappropriate and unfortunate” actions on Saturday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, according to ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss.
The changes to Griner’s travel arrangements come after the league previously stated it had approved charter flights for the eight-time All-Star this season, according to The Athletic. However, ESPN reported that the WNBA had pre-approved Griner for only two charter flights.
Despite the league challenging the claim around the number of charter flights that were approved for Griner, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert joined ESPN’s Outside the Lines on Friday and said Griner’s security and travel plans have been modified.
While walking inside the airport, “social media figure and provocateur” Alex Stein attempted to approach Griner with a camera in his hand, asking, “Did she still want to boycott America” and that she “hates America.”
Mercury players could now potentially have the chance to use JSX public charter flights on standard and alleged “created” routes, per ESPN. The WNBA permits teams to use the JSX service, but has fixed arrangements with the airline. According to ESPN’s report, teams have the power to purchase flights but the airline’s flights are on predetermined routes and times. While JSX has the flexibility to generate travel outside of its structured schedule, it would cost the league more money. Currently, teams are not authorized to change those flights.
While Phoenix is a hub for JSX flights, the airline service is not in every city with a WNBA team. That information was reportedly taken into consideration during an April meeting where Engelbert agreed to a “hybrid plan.” Per ESPN, the plan included the league “pre-approving two charter flights for Griner” and would consider approving more for the Mercury star based on need but not for her teammates.
Griner and her teammates could also board standard JSX flights if they were accessible and Griner would board first class on commercial flights for all other excursions. The Mercury managed to fly standard JSX flights for their road trips to Los Angeles and Dallas, but were unable to travel to Indiana on a standard charter flight due to the lack of a standard JSX route to Indianapolis.
According to Engelbert, the league is “working” to ensure a “good plan” for the safety of Griner and the Mercury moving forward. Griner did not play in the Mercury’s game Friday against the Mystics due to a hip injury.
The 32-year-old played in her first WNBA game in more than 18 months when Phoenix faced Los Angeles on May 20. She served close to 10 months in a Russian prison for allegedly carrying hashish oil in an airport. Griner was released and returned to the United States in December.
