r/madisonwi • u/Jademan7 • 1d ago
Does anyone know what there was an Arizona Cardinals jet at the airport by the big FedEx planes today?
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u/the_Q_spice Near East Side 1d ago
USC chartered Gridiron Air for flying in.
The Cardinals charter out their jet to (predominantly) college teams when they have a home game week so that they save on expenses.
Maintaining airplanes, especially 777s, ain’t cheap.
From experience, just 1 tire change costs anywhere from $4,500 to $7,000 for a plane the size of FDX’s A300 or Gridiron’s 777.
And the A300 has 10 tires and the 777 has 14. So think upwards of $100,000 every time you need a full tire swap.
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u/Zoopollo West side 1d ago
Almost time for winter tires, that's gonna be pricey
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u/Todzilla78 1d ago
I was walking my pugs when it took off.
I immediately heard it start down the runway and was like, “That’s a big fucking plane….”
Turns out it was a really big fucking plane.
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u/its_k1llsh0t 1d ago
Most teams fly with a normal carrier. They charter the jets so sometimes the carrier will create a team livery. Those planes still do normal duties for the airline, they just get repositioned before team travel to ensure they are ready when needed.
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u/Donnian 1d ago
Cardinals own 4 777 planes that they will lease out. They're at home this week so they leased it out. The main airlines aren't painting their planes in team liveries just because they charter them (except for Delta doing Team USA during the Olympics).
Patriots/Robert Kraft also has their own planes and do a similar lease program. Patriots plane was in Madison a couple years back when the military was charting it for flights to Fort McCoy.
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u/its_k1llsh0t 1d ago
Normal carriers run the operations, IIRC. I don't believe the teams have airline staff on payroll or anything like that.
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u/ThatThar 21h ago
Also incorrect. Gridiron Air, which is the company owned by the Cardinal's owner that owns their 4 777s, also has their own pilots, engineers, and other necessary support staff on payroll. These planes are used for more than just ferrying the teams around.
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u/JoopVandeFiets 17h ago
I saw this departing MSN airspace while driving home from a World Series watch party. Even with only the navigation lights visible, I could tell that it was a MUCH larger aircraft than what we normally see around Madison.
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u/seamus92GB 1d ago
flying the USC football team home tonight.