Buses, Delays, and Forfeit Threats: Air Traffic Shutdown Leaves Sports Teams Scrambling To Make Games

The Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ground all flights nationwide for several hours Friday threw the American sports landscape into chaos, leaving NBA, NHL and college athletic programs scrambling to reach their destinations in time for games this weekend.Although limited domestic departures resumed after the halt was lifted around 8:15 p.m. EST on Friday, many sports teams were left searching for hotel rooms, while others rescheduled flights, and leagues adjusted start times. Some teams had to charter long-distance buses rather than waiting for the ground stop to end.Nowhere was the disruption felt more acutely than in college football, where programs normally travel the day before a traditional Saturday game.The most notable casualty was No. 19 Mississippi’s football game at Oklahoma, which was moved from Saturday to Sunday at 1 p.m. EST because of travel issues. According to the Southeastern Conference, Ole Miss was unable to depart Oxford on Friday night because its charter airline could not accommodate a late-night departure once airspace reopened. The Rebels delayed their flight to Norman until Saturday afternoon. The game originally scheduled for 4:15 p.m. Eastern will now kick off at 1 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.Oklahoma’s athletic director, Roger Denny, was not happy with the decision, saying the SEC threatened Oklahoma with a forfeit if it did not agree to the move. “I understand that difficult decisions sometimes must be made under extraordinary circumstances,” Mr. Denny said in a statement on X. “Put simply, this decision isn’t fair to our athletes, our institution or to Sooner nation. But we’ve been given no other choice. We remain steadfast in our belief that the wrong outcome was reached.”Other major programs faced similar issues, including No. 2 Utah, No. 8 Texas and No. 9 Tennessee. The Utah Utes were set to take on No. 23 Arizona on Saturday in Tucson; the Longhorns were traveling to No. 24 LSU and the Vols were headed to Texas A&M in three of the bigger games of the weekend.The Utes wound up returning from the airport to their football facility on campus to wait out the delay. A source told the Salt Lake Tribune the team traveled to Tucson on Saturday morning where kickoff was delayed for three hours.Texas and Tennessee also returned to their campuses to wait out the stoppage. Both teams eventually secured late-night charters to their destinations.Instead of waiting, Auburn University’s football team opted to take a bus to Mississippi State. But the Saturday start time in Starkville was pushed back from noon ET to 4:15 p.m.Washington returned to campus when its flight was grounded, but officials stayed in touch with the airline partner and the flight crew remained in place. The Huskies ultimately flew out late Friday for their game at Michigan State on Saturday, which was pushed by 75 minutes later than originally scheduled.Other universities affected by the stoppage included Baylor, Kansas State, Minnesota and Arizona State.Meanwhile, the USC women’s basketball team was originally scheduled to arrive in Greenville, South Carolina, on Friday for its highly touted matchup against the Gamecocks on Sunday. Though the ground stop was lifted, USC elected to stay in Los Angeles and travel Saturday.Several professional teams were impacted as well. In the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers played at Miami on Friday night but didn’t fly home until Saturday morning and planned to land about eight hours before a home game against the Dallas Mavericks.At least two other NBA teams had Friday night flights pushed to Saturday morning, but those teams weren’t playing Saturday night. Cleveland, which checked out earlier on Friday, had to scramble to get hotel rooms re-booked in South Florida.“It’s part of it. You just adapt,” Cleveland’s head coach, Kenny Atkinson, said.The NHL largely escaped major schedule alterations though there were14 scheduled games on Saturday. The Florida Panthers were among the majority that made it to their destinations before the stoppage began. The Sharks, who were left waiting in San Jose to see whether they would be able to travel, arrived later Friday in Utah.NFL teams, which typically travel on Saturday or Sunday games, were largely spared from the travel chaos.

Buses, Delays, and Forfeit Threats: Air Traffic Shutdown Leaves Sports Teams Scrambling To Make Games

Buses, Delays, and Forfeit Threats: Air Traffic Shutdown Leaves Sports Teams Scrambling To Make Games

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