This season, the National Basketball Association (NBA) is planning to switch its VIP charter contract aircraft from A319-100s to B757-200s a filing with the US Department of Transportation (DOT) has shown. This year, the contract will cover twenty-seven of the thirty NBA teams, four more than last season.
According to the submission, eleven B757-200s will be transferred from Delta Air Lines (DL, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson) ownership to a private leasing firm, which will then lease the aircraft to a trust controlled by the league.
"Under the proposed program, the Participating Teams will form an entity (the 'Team Entity'), which will be a trust. The Team Entity will lease eleven Boeing 757-200 aircraft from a third party lessor, and the aircraft will be specially configured for use by the Participating Teams," it said.
As per the agreement, Delta will be able to pursue "ad-hoc" charter contracts during aircraft downtime, so long as those services do not conflict with team transport operations. Planet Service, an administrative company, will coordinate charter scheduling for the NBA.
Last year, the NBA employed a fleet of eight VIP-configured A319s, also sourced from Delta, to service the contract.