Eastern Airlines, which I’ve in the past called the world’s strangest airline, is facing a $22.8 million lawsuit from the New England Patriots. This sounds like a messy situation…
In this post:
Backstory of New England Patriots & Eastern Airlines
Transporting professional sports teams is quite the logistical challenge, given the number of people that need to be transported, plus the importance of reliability. A vast majority of sports teams set up contracts with airlines and charter operators for moving their teams around.
In 2017, the New England Patriots made headlines, when the team picked up two used Boeing 767-300s (which are now 30+ years old). The team reportedly paid only $10 million for the pair of jets, both of which previously flew for American Airlines. The idea was that the Patriots would no longer have to rely on charter contracts for transporting the team.
Below is a cool video that gives you a sense of the logistics of this.
In 2020, the New England Patriots entered into an agreement with Eastern Airlines, to essentially operate these aircraft on behalf of the Patriots for six NFL seasons. As you’d expect, the Patriots don’t actually have any expertise in aviation, so it’s more efficient to outsource this in terms of maintenance, staffing, and general logistics.
Since then, Eastern Airlines has been operating these aircraft in the New England Patriots livery on behalf of the team. For those not familiar with Eastern Airlines, this is a rather unusual US airline that has very limited commercial service (the airline flies once monthly from Miami to Santo Domingo), and otherwise operates charter flights.
New England Patriots now suing Eastern Airlines
The New York Post is reporting that the New England Patriots filed a $22.8 million lawsuit against Eastern Airlines in Manhattan Federal Court. The lawsuit alleges a breach of contract, as Eastern Airlines gave the team an ultimatum shortly before the season started — the company wanted more money, or it wouldn’t operate these flights, despite having a multi-year agreement in place. This caused the New England Patriots to terminate its contract with the airline.
The New England Patriots are suing for damages, citing Eastern’s attempt “to wring additional, unbargained-for compensation.” Per the lawsuit:
“If the [New England Patriots] did not pay Eastern more than provided for in the parties’ agreement, Eastern would simply walk away from the agreement, leaving the Patriots without an airplane operator on the eve of the upcoming NFL season, and with no plan in place to transport the Patriots’ sizeable contingent of players, coaches, and other personnel across the country.”
This sure is a puzzling situation on many levels. How exactly did Eastern Airlines get into a situation where it was losing money operating these charter contracts? I feel like there must be more to this.
I’m confused by how exactly Eastern Airlines is still in business, as I’m not sure what the carrier’s business model is? The company has a fleet of Boeing 767s and Boeing 777s that are barely utilized, the airline has repeatedly announced routes and then not launched them, and seemingly the company can’t even follow through on a charter contract with the Patriots? Is the airline relying on its new planned route to Wuhan to pay the bills?
I can’t help but wonder if there’s more at play here. Did Eastern’s contract include paying a fixed amount for maintenance, and that has proven more costly than planned, or…? From the perspective of an airline, the beauty of these kinds of contracts is supposed to be that they can be reliably profitable, since you’re not taking any risks with having to sell airline tickets, etc.
New England Patriots will now fly American Airlines
The New England Patriots are reportedly using American Airlines for charter services this NFL season, given the fallout with Eastern Airlines. So even though the New England Patriots purchased the two Boeing 767s and leased them out to Eastern Airlines, it doesn’t seem like the company will be operating these planes again, at least for the time being.
Only time will tell if the New England Patriots eventually operate these 767s again, or if this was just a short lived experiment.
In theory, a sports team having its own aircraft isn’t the worst idea in the world. It can be a competitive advantage to attract talent (especially if the plane is comfortable), and it can also be economical. The issue is that operating aircraft reliably is no small task, so most sports teams need a third party to do this. Clearly that’s what the New England Patriots were looking to Eastern Airlines for, but that didn’t work out.
Bottom line
The New England Patriots are suing Eastern Airlines, which has been operating the sports team’s two Boeing 767s for the past few years. The New England Patriots made quite the splash in 2017, when they decided to acquire their own jets. While that seemed like a cool idea at the time, it hasn’t worked out too well, as Eastern Airlines is accused of significantly increasing what it was charging the Patriots.
The team decided to cut ties with the airline, and is now suing for $22.8 million. You can expect the Patriots to be flying with American Airlines for this season.
What do you make of this situation between the New England Patriots and Eastern Airlines?
Doesn't the team still own the aircrafts?
As a former Eastern employee, with deep inside knowledge of the operation, this was bound to happen and a lot of shady stuff went on to make sure the Patriots had a crew each week, the jets were poorly taken care of as well and there was a few incidents with landings as well.
You have to read the fine print & agree once the dotted line is signed. The airline became greedy & tried to bribe for more money which can be shady. Maybe the pats should have stayed with Delta but now are flying American a more reliable airline, i say stay with a reputable carrier & make certain all I are dotted & all T are crossed, & you are right, the pats are not having a good year so far thanks to bad decisions.
The Pats tend to look for bargains and I'm guessing that this was a low bid and they jumped on it. Low bids are worthless if the vendor can't support the contract. They require sure diligence.
The only people who win lawsuits are lawyers!
They should have gone with Delta Airlines for a contract agreement.
Perhaps the New England Patriots were thinking the name Eastern was an old reliable airline from the past
Eastern Air Lines was a once great airline. Notice the name Eastern Air Lines is the old Eastern. This new Eastern is spelled Eastern Airlines. I worked for the former and was proud of the airline. I hate to see new Eastern bring the name down.
Patriots never should have left Delta. We had operated those charters successfully for many years prior to them purchasing their 2 planes
So what became of the Patriots 2 aircraft?
Yeah, they got the gig because they were probably the lowest bidder and felt that this connection to a Super Bowl-winning team would boost their profile.
But since Eastern itself probably isn't in as healthy a financial shape as they would like to be, shaking down the Patriots for more cash on the eve of the start of the NFL season was probably the way they thought they could do it.
Unfortunately for Eastern,...
Yeah, they got the gig because they were probably the lowest bidder and felt that this connection to a Super Bowl-winning team would boost their profile.
But since Eastern itself probably isn't in as healthy a financial shape as they would like to be, shaking down the Patriots for more cash on the eve of the start of the NFL season was probably the way they thought they could do it.
Unfortunately for Eastern, the Patriots had enough money to sign up with another airline last-minute, and also enough money to sue Eastern for the additional last-minute cost.
A contract is a contract. Eastern appears to have miscalculated the peripheral financial benefit of transporting an NFL team.
Not a good year for the Patriots
This feels like the Patriots took the very lowest bid and flew with it... and that Eastern was desperate enough to get the business that they agreed to terms they weren't excited about.
Robert Kraft. I’ll fly for you anytime. I’m a current military pilot with heavy experience and six combat deployments. I can knock out a 767 type rating if it’s to fly for the pats!
Contact the organization, kraft has a soft spot for servicemembers.
Well, now I know why I’ve seen a American 777-200 at PVD on occasion.
Decade or so ago Mark Cuban bought a 767, refurbished it for the Dallas Mavericks. Has a raffle of sorts a couple times a year, takes 60 people to a surprise destination.
i worked for eastern airlines as a maintenance manager. the company is responsible for all aspects of maintenance. and when the season is over the company under the agreement had permision to fly the airplanes on DOD missions. the patriot aircraft interior was in great shape but eastern was not able to upkeep the interior these DOD and ICE missiions destroyed the interiors and mantainance was poor in getting parts. i knew that the partriots...
i worked for eastern airlines as a maintenance manager. the company is responsible for all aspects of maintenance. and when the season is over the company under the agreement had permision to fly the airplanes on DOD missions. the patriot aircraft interior was in great shape but eastern was not able to upkeep the interior these DOD and ICE missiions destroyed the interiors and mantainance was poor in getting parts. i knew that the partriots were not happy and wanted to terminate the contract. the airplannes belongs to the patriots and not eastern. ken willy whos is a part owner is fanancing the company from his own pocket. this company had great potential but poor leadership from ex ceo steve harfrs and other vp and managers.
Making any kind of conclusion without seeing the contract is very difficult.
Some politicians have used Eastern. In 2016, VP Candidate Mike Pence was on an Eastern plane that skidded off the runway in winter weather at LGA. Pence had to walk to an airport bus.
No they are B767-300 ER
One with 215 and one with 240 seats give or take 5.
Just go with Delta they have 95% of the charter sports teams. Anyways.
United actually caries the most teams.
Wrong. Delta has almost all of the NBA and a quarter of the NHL. United doesn’t fly any NBA or NHL. The MLB is divided between United and Delta. Delta also carries almost half of the NFL. Then there is NCAA, WNBA and more
Delta sucks. I've always had bad experiences flying with Delta.
I'm an American Airlines flyer now.
Don't be to quick to make negative comments about Eastern Airlines. You don't know what the airline and the airline staff and other employees must do to transport.
Eastern Airlines PR hard at work.
trust me i use to manaage the maintenance for 5 years they had a good think going and screwed it up mismanagement all across the board
As far as I can see Eastern is a money laundering operation. Actual flight operations is not what they want to do.
That was my first thought just reading this article!
As far as I can see Eastern seems like a money laundering operation. Actually conducting flight operations is not what they want to do.
Nice to see AA getting a high profile contract like this!
I don’t agree with this and it’s content.
Yes something is missing and missing parts not in focus, can be a story justified
You seem not to like eastern.
Jesus was termed as “strange”
They are on business still. And they are open.
Maybe you should focus on that, sustainability is possible with airlines, so they are able to give benefits and rewards to those supporting them
It’s good to see eastern still around. It’s good to recognize them.
Wow.
Eastern Airlines’s version of Tim Dunn hard at work today.
Comparing the current version of Eastern Airlines to Jesus seems a bit over the top.
I'm reminded of something Carl Sagan said:
"They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."
I think this is the first time I’ve seen an airline compared to Jesus. Bravo.
Possibly the strangest comment I've read on OMAAT... and people say some strange things.
The Tigers and Red Wings flew on their own MD80 for years, owned by the team’s owner. I believe I saw somewhere earlier this year that they purchased a 737 to replace it.
Yep. Ex Miami Air 737-800 N749MA, repainted in a snazzy red, white, and blue livery. Registered to FLY 737 800 II LLC. Jetphotos . com has a picture of it.
The Arizona Cardinals now own/lease three ex-Delta 777's. They plan to operate a charter outfit on the side called Gridiron Air for professional teams and whomever has money to charter..
They should have used Delta Air Lines as they have a fleet of aircraft specifically suited for team transport. Cost is always a factor but reliability is also very important. Sometimes the extra costs are offset by the reliability factor. You get what you pay for.
Just ask the Steelers.
Who doesn’t enjoy a Kansas City stopover on the way back from Vegas, especially in the middle of the night?
Those are 757's with about 60 seats..NBA leases the aircraft and some MLB teams use them. No NFL team would be able to put a team on one of them.
The NBA actually owns those 757s and leases them back to Delta. They are only available for approved charters outside of the NBA - some NHL and MLB teams use these, and I think a few rock bands have used them as well.
The Patriots could have done this with Delta, though not sure if Delta would have agreed to take ex-American 767s to operate (not sure if they had the same engines, etc.).