NEW YORK — The WNBA's new charter flight program still has a few expected kinks but commissioner Cathy Engelbert expects everything to be running smoothly after the Olympic break.
''It's a big Rubik's Cube,'' Engelbert told The Associated Press in a phone interview Friday. ''Where could we get planes and pilots for long haul flights? It's not like the plane takes you and waits there for two days. It's been deployed elsewhere. There's a logistical complexity.''
It usually takes months of work to put together a charter schedule for a professional league because of plane availability and pilot staffing. The WNBA was able to get it done in a few weeks, in large part because of a longstanding relationship with Delta and the blueprint the NBA has in place.
''The footprint of our season is so dense. We wanted to take advantage of the fact that we knew these first couple of weeks, especially on the front end of this, were going to be challenging for our teams,'' Engelbert said. ''That's why we pulled the trigger when we did. We looked at the schedule and challenges it created and decided it was time.''
Engelbert said that the original plan was to roll out the charters gradually as they became available, but the league was able to secure charters for every team within a week of the season starting.
The league, which will pay about $25 million annually for the next two years for the flights, will use three types of planes for its charters — VIP, Delta mainline and regional jets.
So far, most of the flights have been done on regional jets because of aircraft availability. May, June and July are the busiest months for flying and other planes weren't available on such short notice.
The regional jets are smaller with 30 seats and have to stop to refuel on long flights. Fuel stops also were made when the NBA started its charter flight program in 1997.