At the upper echelons of professional sport, athletes don't have to deal with business class seats and the grind of your traditional airport. No, when you're earning millions upon millions of dollars a year, you travel on your own chartered plane, or one owned by the team. In the NBA, the cream of the basketballing world travel from city to city, state to state, in chartered jets that have been altered for the men who travel in them. In 2015, the NBA and Delta Air Lines Inc struck a deal in which 27 of the 30 NBA teams would be carried by their chartered jets specifically fitted out to host NBA players. READ MORE: The planes had more cabin space than your normal jet, and twice the leg room. They were built for luxury, and to make sure the players were well rested when they arrived at their destination.
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But where NBA players were flying in absolute luxury, their female counterparts were not.
A report in The Indy Star in 2017 said that WNBA players were forced to fly cattle class from game to game, fighting for luggage space and leg room with everyone else.
The WNBAhas a rule against teams using chartered flights, like their male counterparts, because not every team can afford to do so.
This is a league in which the average salary is US$77,000 (NZ$110,500), compared to US$7.1m (NZ$10.1m) in the NBA.
These two leagues are not equal, on or off the court.
The luxuries afforded to the NBA's finest are also enjoyed by other sporting teams around the world.
Elite teams in elite leagues don't have to deal with the fuss of airports and commercial travel, like New Zealand sporting teams do.
The All Blacks are one of the best sporting brands in the world, but even they fly business class using the national carrier.
Dan Carter, for years, could be spotted in the local business class lounge prior to a flight, but had he taken up the opportunity to be a kicker for the NFL's New England Patriots, travel would have got a lot easier.
Robert Kraft, New England's team owner, tapped up Carter once upon a time as a potential kicker given his great record in rugby.
Nothing eventuated, but if it had, Carter could now be flying on the Patriots' newly purchased team planes.
Providence to Tampa on #AirKraft. #GoPats pic.twitter.com/h8IJHrbbkx
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) October 5, 2017
That's right, planes, as in two. Kraft purchased two Boeing 767s last year, and they were first used in October to carry the team to an away game at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The planes are painted in Patriots colours, and players have their own specific seats, complete with their playing number on the head rest.
Jim Nolan, chief operating officer of the Patriots' Gillette Stadium, said the planes were modified to provide optimum comfort.
"The players historically have sat on coach seats on a domestic aircraft, so what we did with these seats, was first, we got the widest and largest seat that you can put on this plane," Nolan told CBS Sports.
"Most importantly, from a player perspective, we've added five-inches of legroom beyond what a typical first-class seat has."
Across the Atlantic, football giants Real Madrid are in a similar situation.
They have their own plane for travel to away matches in Spain or throughout Europe when on Champions League duty.
Most football sides in Europe charter flights.
English Premier League side Huddersfield Town, for instance, had a chartered flight booked for Wednesday night, after playing Chelsea in London.
They very publicly cancelled that flight after drawing 1-1 with Chelsea, securing their Premier League survival, because they wanted to bus the 305km home in a party coach.
Who needs in-flight beverages when you can bring a keg on the bus.
