Charter BB flights....

[Loyal Coug]

These articles talk about (barf) gonzaga's charter plane. What we need to read, and absorb if you did more research like the Loyal one (refer above for my opulence), is that it sounds like their deal is not that much more than flying commercial.

Ok, so it should be even better for us, as Pullman International Airport can land a BB charter plane, probably cheaper than Spokaloo. Landing fees and all.

Point being, I would like to see a dollar comparison (forget the student-athlete part for a moment) of some charter service comparable to the zags as opposed to our current situation.

And our friends the zags:
"The plane the team flies on is basically a large turboprop that has been retrofitted with jet engines."

I dunno, I would not want to fly on a rig that had it's engines replaced......

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/mar/09/how-gonzaga-travels-behind-the-scenes-look-at-how-/

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/mar/09/rob-curley-gonzaga-sits-back-relaxes-when-it-comes/

 

[dgibbons]

Maybe because those articles have nothing to do with WSU....

 

[Loyal Coug]

Maybe because those articles have nothing to do with WSU....

They have everything to do with WSU in the context of here's what a team 80 miles away does for charter flights, so what would a similar arrangement cost WSU as opposed to currently taking commercial flights. With a prime takeaway being that the gonzaga charters supposedly are not all that much more expensive than commercial flights. Caveat - I may have gotten that implication from my subsequent research into the charter company itself, I can't remember.

The lack of charters is brought up and lamented in just about every thread about our BB program. So it seems quite relevant to try to put some dollars around that.

 

[7ICoug]

Those GU flights were just comp'd to them from a local booster. It would be like the Pullman electronics firm loaning the team there plane.

 

[COUGinNCW]

Those GU flights were just comp'd to them from a local booster. It would be like the Pullman electronics firm loaning the team there plane.

Unfortunately, Ed Schweitzer doesn’t care about sports.

 

[kougkurt]

Unfortunately, Ed Schweitzer doesn’t care about sports.

U of O has more private planes in the air at any given time then United.

 

[Loyal Coug]

Those GU flights were just comp'd to them from a local booster. It would be like the Pullman electronics firm loaning the team there plane.

No, not exactly, unless the local booster owns the Denver-based Charter Alliance Group that Gonzaga flies on (link below). Notice the first words on the site:

"Now you can experience the convenience, prestige,
and value of a chartered aircraft at airline prices."

http://charteralliancegroup.com/

Which is my whole point of this thread. How much MORE would these charters cost? And factor in all costs - extra-night hotel stays because we can't get home, Busses to Spokane, meals, etc.

And yes too bad Ed Schweitzer is apparently not a sports fan. I don't know if any of his Pullman-based planes are big enough to haul a BB team anyway. But if they are, the guy is a capitalist so he might consider chartering one out on occasion. At market rates of course. Which would be cheaper than having to fly a plane in, do the charter, then fly back to Denver or Seattle or wherever. And, SEL is employee-owned now so it's not just him calling the shots on business deals. And he is an alum and generous academic donor. And lots of WSU grads work there.

And one more thing. Crazy as it sounds, would it be worth it for WSU to own it's own plane? Not FB sized of course. But with all of our smaller sports flying around all over the west for 3 seasons, and an international airport 5 minutes from campus, I don't know. Plus the numerous trips WSU people make to Seattle every week. Coordinate travel - WSU people, schedule your meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the WSU plane will zip over to Seattle (what's the private field up there now taking commercial flights) and haul everyone.....

 

[COUGinNCW]

No, not exactly, unless the local booster owns the Denver-based Charter Alliance Group that Gonzaga flies on (link below). Notice the first words on the site:

"Now you can experience the convenience, prestige,
and value of a chartered aircraft at airline prices."

http://charteralliancegroup.com/

Which is my whole point of this thread. How much MORE would these charters cost? And factor in all costs - extra-night hotel stays because we can't get home, Busses to Spokane, meals, etc.

And yes too bad Ed Schweitzer is apparently not a sports fan. I don't know if any of his Pullman-based planes are big enough to haul a BB team anyway. But if they are, the guy is a capitalist so he might consider chartering one out on occasion. At market rates of course. Which would be cheaper than having to fly a plane in, do the charter, then fly back to Denver or Seattle or wherever. And, SEL is employee-owned now so it's not just him calling the shots on business deals. And he is an alum and generous academic donor. And lots of WSU grads work there.

And one more thing. Crazy as it sounds, would it be worth it for WSU to own it's own plane? Not FB sized of course. But with all of our smaller sports flying around all over the west for 3 seasons, and an international airport 5 minutes from campus, I don't know. Plus the numerous trips WSU people make to Seattle every week. Coordinate travel - WSU people, schedule your meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the WSU plane will zip over to Seattle (what's the private field up there now taking commercial flights) and haul everyone.....

I don’t know if anyone owns an airplane bc it’s cost effective. Strictly a convenience item. Owning vs charters is more convient, especially if you have fluid schedules.

 

[FnuLnu]

And one more thing. Crazy as it sounds, would it be worth it for WSU to own it's own plane? Not FB sized of course. But with all of our smaller sports flying around all over the west for 3 seasons, and an international airport 5 minutes from campus, I don't know. Plus the numerous trips WSU people make to Seattle every week. Coordinate travel - WSU people, schedule your meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the WSU plane will zip over to Seattle (what's the private field up there now taking commercial flights) and haul everyone.....

Men's & Women's Track and XTC bus everywhere in the Northwest.

Twice a month in January/February for indoor meets at Dempsey - once they had to divert through Portland with Snoqualmie Pass closed.
Sometimes that same weekend, a portion of the team is at a meet in New Mexico (high altitude to get their NCAA qualifying marks).

Don't think this will change - they have more scholarship athletes than basketball, but often a weeks break between meets (and no Wednesday games like basketball had).

 

[dgibbons]

No, not exactly, unless the local booster owns the Denver-based Charter Alliance Group that Gonzaga flies on (link below). Notice the first words on the site:

"Now you can experience the convenience, prestige,
and value of a chartered aircraft at airline prices."

http://charteralliancegroup.com/

Which is my whole point of this thread. How much MORE would these charters cost? And factor in all costs - extra-night hotel stays because we can't get home, Busses to Spokane, meals, etc.

And yes too bad Ed Schweitzer is apparently not a sports fan. I don't know if any of his Pullman-based planes are big enough to haul a BB team anyway. But if they are, the guy is a capitalist so he might consider chartering one out on occasion. At market rates of course. Which would be cheaper than having to fly a plane in, do the charter, then fly back to Denver or Seattle or wherever. And, SEL is employee-owned now so it's not just him calling the shots on business deals. And he is an alum and generous academic donor. And lots of WSU grads work there.

And one more thing. Crazy as it sounds, would it be worth it for WSU to own it's own plane? Not FB sized of course. But with all of our smaller sports flying around all over the west for 3 seasons, and an international airport 5 minutes from campus, I don't know. Plus the numerous trips WSU people make to Seattle every week. Coordinate travel - WSU people, schedule your meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the WSU plane will zip over to Seattle (what's the private field up there now taking commercial flights) and haul everyone.....

It’s a regional airport.

WSU wouldn’t own an aircraft outright. Too expensive with the maintenance, pilot, etc. Netjets, leases, charters, etc. are the way to go.

 

[Loyal Coug]

It’s a regional airport.

WSU wouldn’t own an aircraft outright. Too expensive with the maintenance, pilot, etc. Netjets, leases, charters, etc. are the way to go.

Yes I know that. "Pullman International Airport" is an affectionate term used by many Cougs. Myself included.

And no disagreement about ownership vs charters. Just a fantasyworld scenario to be mused about. A long time ago, I had a buddy who was a pilot, and he owned a little 2 seater that I flew in exactly once and never again. He was hired on occasion by WSU FB to fly coaches to HS games in the state to scout players. Bet he scared the crap out of them too.....

 

[mikalalas]

LC is right, that because ED Schweitzer is a Alum, has a charter sized plane, it should be possible to:

Pay a SEMI COMPETITIVE MARKET rate to USE the plane.

My pitch to him if I was AD, would be: 1. He's getting FREE ADVERTISING of his business, whenever WSU flys his plane. 2. He is making money by letting WSU use, fly plane. 3. The plane is probably just sitting unused a lot anyways, costing him maintenance money. 4. Despite him not being interested in WSU sports, he is a ALUM, and he needs to be shown that WSU B Ball helps promote WSU, AND WSU ACADEMICS.

Then my pitch to Schultz, others would be:

1. B Ball needs a charter flight.

2. Charter Flights help recruit good B Ball coaches, players

3. It would probably cost less the almost all other charter flights, and maybe, probably even commercial flights

4. It would get Ed Schweitzer PARTICIPATING in HELPING WSU, or at the very least in a BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP. Which then might lead to Ed Schweitzer donating more to both WSU Sports, Academics.

Examples:

Ed Schweitzer Stadium, field.

WSU Advertising for Ed Schweitzer for money(Put WSU's, Marketing, PR, Advertising, JOURNALISM PROGRAMS, NEWSPAPER, etc, to good use)

Should be doable to make that happen.

Any PROFESSIONAL, COMPETANT, AD should be able to make that happen.

And Chun will be judged on whether he is able to make stuff like that happen.