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Introduction
Generally, Major League Baseball teams travel a whole lot. Aside from traveling to play 162 games during the regular season, they also travel to Arizona or Florida to play a couple of Spring Training games and have the potential to travel for more games if the team makes a deep postseason run. And just as it is for all other MLB teams, it’s also this way for the New York Mets. The amount of traveling going on makes a lot of people wonder if The Mets have a plane. We’ve written this article to address all the concerns about the Mets having their planes, and any other questions related to the Mets traveling around.
Do The Mets Have Their Own Plane?
The Mets don’t have their plane, as it’s too expensive to own a plane that will just be sitting idly during the off-season. The Mets travel around for games using their official airline, Delta. Delta has served as the official airline for The Mets since the 2009 MLB season. Using chartered flights the team doesn’t have to worry about potential transportation failures whenever they’re ready to fly out for games. There are certain reasons why the Mets might have decided to keep chartering flights instead of getting a plane for the team. One is cost-effectiveness, it’s certainly far cheaper to charter planes than to own one. Although the team travels a lot, the breakdown of the team’s traveling hours and the off-season period when the plane will have to be sitting doing nothing isn’t worth owning the kind of big plane the team needs to fly around. It also helps that chartering flights relieves the team of the hassle of owning, operating, and managing a private plane.
How The New York Mets Travel During Spring Training?
During Spring training each team including The Mets plays all of its games within the same state, either Arizona or Florida so traveling during spring training is easier in terms of distances. During spring training, teams work with a lesser budget than during the regular season, so buses are ridden from game to game during this period. For improved comfortability, each player gets two adjacent seats, and team players who live far away from the team’s headquarters get stipends for meals and room.
How The Mets Travel During Regular Season and Postseason?
During regular and postseason, The New York Mets travel around majorly using the plane, and they have an official airline which is Delta Airlines. Traveling is made much easier for players as they don’t need to worry about packing or getting their bags to the airport. There are clubhouse assistants that are responsible for those jobs. MLB teams can also travel by bus if the most direct route between the two cities is about 200 miles. The team fully covers all the flight costs and any other transportation costs for every team player.
The Mets Hotel Accommodation And Meals
The team fully caters to the player’s accommodation and meals just as it did with transportation. To ensure the players are getting the deserved treatment, the MLB Players Association requests each team to provide a list of all the teams that will stay. The union checks to ensure the hotels meet the set specifications. Every player gets his room without roommates during the season, hotels provide in-room meals. Teams are also required to provide players with meals that meet the specific nutritional requirements in the clubhouse. At times, when the team doesn’t provide meals, players receive a food allowance.
How The Minor League Teams Travel?
Minor league team travel depends on the level of the team and the league the team is in, but it’s not as luxurious or comfortable as that of MLB teams. Depending on the level of the team, the team can charter buses for the players to travel around, and the minor league teams on higher levels get to travel around by flying commercial.
Conclusion
The Mets don’t have their plane as it’s not cost-efficient to own a plane that will not be in use during off-seasons. They travel around for games using chartered flights to enjoy much more luxurious, and comfortable traveling and Delta Airlines is their official airline. Total transportation costs including flight, and the bus is handled by the team. The Mets team also provides accommodation and meals for the players.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Any MLB Teams Have Their Planes?
The majority of MLB teams don’t have their planes, but charter planes from major airlines as this is more cost-effective. But the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers fly with planes that belong to their organization.
Do The Mets Fly Commercially?
Major League Baseball teams don’t fly commercials including the Mets, they can’t even afford to fly commercials because it can be a huge risk on their schedule, especially in cases of delayed flights.
Do MLB Players Fly First Class?
Yes, MLB players fly first-class flights but if first-class is unavailable, the players have the next premium seats available so the players can enjoy a comfortable flight experience.
