Stormy weather alters Seattle’s travel plans for 1-hour flight to Washington

By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Basketball Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — With thunderstorms blanketing the Northeast again, the Seattle Storm had to alter their travel plans to get from New York to Washington for their game against the Mystics on Tuesday.

Seattle was originally planning to fly to Washington on Sunday, but when their operations staff got to the airport ahead of the rest of the team they heard their flight was canceled because of incoming storms in the area.

The next direct flight out they could get that would be able to accommodate their 24-person travel party was Wednesday — a day after the game. There were also limited seats available on Amtrak trains to Washington with it being the end of a holiday week.

After checking with the bus company that the driver would be allowed to take the team to Washington, the Storm picked up their staff at LaGuardia Airport and headed south for the potentially 5-hour drive to D.C. A flight to Washington usually takes about an hour.

It already had been a busy travel week for the Storm. They flew into Boston from Seattle on Tuesday and drove the 2 hours to Mohegan Sun. Seattle practiced Wednesday and then played Connecticut on Thursday.

After losing by 20 points to the Sun, the team made the 3-plus hour drive on Friday to New York to get ready for their game against the Liberty. The Storm were more competitive in that game, falling to New York 80-76 Saturday afternoon.

Seattle plays in Washington and then has a charter flight to Atlanta on Wednesday for the team’s only back-to-back games this season. The WNBA has added charter flights for teams this year for the second half of back-to-back trips. Teams fly commercially. for other games. The league has said it would cost about $2 million per team to charter for the entire season.

Washington was playing in Connecticut on Sunday and its flight home according to a team official was still listed as being on time.

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