If you're the one responsible, thank you for finally shutting down her show. My daughter drove me crazy watching that stuff.
The Plane is operated by Paradigm Air. Whenever the plane isnt used by the Houston Rockets, it is used for transporting golfers,jockeys etc. from city to city. The latest Retrofit on the airplane has been Wi-Fi. The Plane used to be registered to a Canadian Airline, and used to have a Maple Leaf Logo in the Back. Yes the Plane is Old, but its cheaper and more efficient to carry all your gear with this plane then chartering a 320/737 with an airline. Im surprised Flightaware has this plane listed, i know 2 years ago the "owner" had blocked public tracking. I know John Travolta Blocked his tracking after his son died. MJ's plane N236MJ is rarely published on flightaware.
Yes,each player must bring there I.D with them, even though its Part 135 Flight Regulations (Corporate/On Demand Flying).
They do have a 727. They overhauled a few of these from a graveyard and move 3-4 teams in em. Used to help in planning these flights.
3hr plus bus drive or 30min flight, sometimes the teams/coaches wants to get more things done before going on the road, flying gives them more time
That narrow body aircraft is anything but efficient, a work horse yes, efficient no. It has 3 very old tech gas guzling Pratt & Whitney JT8D engines. They are reliable but very inefficient by today's standards. That aircraft also uses a 3 man cockpit which of course would be more expensive than the standard 2 man cockpit used in today's aircraft unless you are hiring inexperienced pilots that will fly for cheep. By Comparison, the Mavs fly a wide body 767 aircraft with tons more room on the interior. It uses to fuel efficient rolls Royce high bypass engines. The interior is retrofitted for with seats designed for NBA players along with gaming consols, flat screen tv's and a buffet table to name a few items. The aircraft also uses a much more efficient and modern 2 man cockpit. Im pretty certain that no NBA teams have used airlines in a very long time. The Pistond are the first team I remember having their own team jer. Even back in the 90s before Cuban bought the team the Mavs had their own MD-80 painted in team colors. With all the time NBA players spend on an airplane through out a season it seams like the jet they fly on could be a selling point in trying to attract free agents. I know Cuban always has the absolute best for his players. He is the first owner that I know put court side seats designed for tall people on the Mavs bench, but not for the visiting team. Gaming consols in all the lockers, private masseuses for the players, only stays in the very best 5 star hotels. I don't know if the Rockets do all these things for their own players but by judging from the an ancient Boeing 727 I would be very skeptical. I knew Cuban was one of (if not the first) the first owners to start using amenities to attract free agents and just assumed all owners had fallen in line with this concept. Maybe not.
this aircraft was especially designed to fit Yao Ming. Now that he's gone, they need a smaller plane.
