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On Sundays, the National Football League (NFL) is about as simple as it can get. There are 53 players on each roster, one stadium, one team of officials, and one fanbase that will come away with a win. Between these matches, however, the league is a complex machine of logistics. It moves thousands of pounds of equipment to every single game, with full rosters across time zones while trying to keep bodies fresh for the next snap.
Most teams charter airlines for road games, but a handful have gone even further and actually operate their own jets or aircraft that are controlled by team ownership. The difference is not just luxury. Rather, a dedicated aircraft can be configured for recovery, with more space, fewer delays, and tighter control over schedules, turning travel days into a complete variable. There are also extensive changes on the business side, as a team aircraft becomes a flying billboard.
Let’s analyze five NFL franchises with their own jets, what they fly, and how the arrangements are structured. We will also look into why front offices decided that the cost and complexity of owning a private jet is worth it. There are pros and cons of standard charters, and, in a league of razor-thin margins, even the ride can be part of the game plan. Along the way, we will also analyze cabin layouts, branding, operating costs, and other advantages that teams are busy chasing.
New England Patriots
Boeing 767-300ER
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The New England Patriots do not simply hop on a charter aircraft during weeks when they have road games. Rather, they travel on AirKraft, a pair of custom 
Boeing 767-300ER widebody aircraft that are owned by the Kraft organization, according to One Mile At A Time. Originally acquired in 2017 and refitted specifically for team travel, these aircraft trade airline density for space and routine, as players are not jammed into dense rows of seating.
As such, coaches can hold quick meetings, and trainers have room to work while the cabin stays quiet enough for players to somehow get a good amount of sleep despite their somewhat onerous schedule. Omni Air International operates these specific jets under a long-term agreement, ultimately supplying both crews and maintenance infrastructure and making the planes available for other charter missions when the New England Patriots are not using them.
Omni Air International’s structure is extremely customized, with the setup including 80 business class seats within a total complement of 203, an unusually premium configuration for a former airliner. Just as important, the Boeing 767 platform itself gives the Patriots real cargo volume for equipment trunks and the range of long domestic legs without actually worrying about whether a charter provider can source the right aircraft on any kind of short notice.
This setup matters over an 18-week grind, when travel fatigue shows up as sore hamstrings and ultimately shortened recovery windows. The jets have become part of the overall Kraft Group’s public-facing story, most famously in April 2020, when one of the Boeing 767s flew to China in order to bring back roughly 1.2 million N95 masks for the state of Massachusetts during an early shortage during COVID-19. With two aircraft onboard, the Patriots also get a built-in backup if one aircraft has any issues.
Arizona Cardinals
Boeing 777-200ER
The Arizona Cardinals are one of the rare NFL franchises that are capable of credibly saying that they both own and operate their own aircraft. In December 2021, the team announced that it had purchased a Boeing 777-200ER and subsequently painted it in Cardinals colors, ultimately making it the club’s dedicated team-travel jet. The headline specification is that the aircraft has a capacity for 288 seats, but the practical advantage is both comfort and space.
The team said that 166 seats are roughly oversized, including 28 lie-flat first class pods and 48 business class seats, in order to give players and staff room to stretch out, eat, and sleep. Analysts have noted that this aircraft previously flew for 
Delta Air Lines, a sign that the Cardinals were buying proven long-haul hardware and then tailoring the experience around an NFL routine. A Boeing 777 is also a straight-up logistics tool.
After all, an NFL traveling party is absolutely massive, with players, coaches, medical staff, video teams, and security personnel all traveling, alongside a massive amount of sideline gear. The widebody aircraft’s range and impressive belly volume help keep everyone on the same departure without splitting into multiple aircraft or sacrificing cargo space.
The Cardinals can also schedule wheels-up times around meetings and treatment, ultimately avoiding last-minute charter swaps. This allows for onboard routines to remain consistent week-to-week. The team even pitched it in competitive terms, arguing that every team in the league is looking for advantages. Having a dedicated aircraft ultimately reduces the number of variables that can wreck an airline’s travel day.
A Look At The Dallas Cowboys’ Private Jet Fleet
Discover the awesome aircraft that move the Dallas Cowboys, setting the standard for team air travel.
Dallas Cowboys
Boeing 777-200ER
The Dallas Cowboys are a great example of how a team can travel privately without actually owning a team airliner, as, for decades, they have had 
American Airlines serve as their principal charter partner. This means that road trips are flown as dedicated, with closed flights built around the team’s timeline rather than the airline’s overall commercial schedule. In practice, that looks like a widebody with a large amount of premium seating and ample cargo volume.
The aircraft type itself will vary, but the Dallas Cowboys have most frequently been linked with the American’s Boeing 777-200ERs for longer trips. This matters as a Boeing 777 can be configured with a sizable Flagship Business cabin and a dedicated Premium Economy section. On game weeks, those cabins translate into recovery, more space to recline, fewer bodies packed into tight rows, and a quieter environment for sleeping or film review.
From a separate perspective, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is also known to operate his own Gulfstream V for executive travel, but this aircraft is distinct from moving the entire roster. It is important to note that, even without owning their own airliner, the Cowboys get the most of the team jet benefits, including privacy, control, and consistency. The airline runs a long-running charter pipeline rather than a team-owned widebody as a result.
Indianapolis Colts
Boeing 737-700
Unlike the New England Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts are not known for flying the full roster on a team-owned airliner. Rather, the organization’s owner, Jim Irsay, has a private fleet tied to the franchise. The centerpiece of these operations is a capable Boeing 737-700, one which has often been described as a Boeing Business Jet-style VIP aircraft. This plane is currently registered to Bopper Airways LLC, a company that is, on paper, based in Indianapolis.
A Boeing 737 in private service is undeniably a big deal. The jet has transcontinental range, a spacious VIP cabin compared with typical business jets, and enough luggage capacity to move execs, coaches, scouts, and support staff with fewer compromises along the way. Alongside that, Bopper also registers at least one Gulfstream G-IV, a classic long-range business jet that is ideal for quick, flexible hops when one does not need the size of a Boeing 737.
For an NFL owner, this combo is essentially perfect. The Boeing 737 handles the kinds of missions that require numerous people to be moved comfortably, all while the G-IV takes care of faster, smaller-footprint travel that comes up constantly in any kind of NFL calendar, especially for the organization’s front office.
A Guide To How NFL Teams Transport Their Large Football Teams
The planes NFL Teams use for transportation
Atlanta Falcons
Bombardier Global 7500
The Atlanta Falcons’ private jet story relates directly to the airline’s ownership. Arthur Blank, the co-founder of Home Depot and the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, is associated with a pair of Bombardier Global jets that are built for long-range nonstop travel, exactly the kind of flights that make an owner’s schedule easier. Some analysts have been quick to suggest that at least one of these aircraft is a Bombardier Global 7500, a jet bearing registration N62LV.
The Bombardier Global 7500 is one of the top-of-the-market ultra-long-range aircraft. Operators of this type enjoy true intercontinental capability, multiple living zones, and the kind of cabin one can actually work and rest in for many hours. From a functional perspective, this is not just about transporting a 53-man roster to cities all across the United States and, increasingly, abroad.
Instead, this structure is all about control and speed for ownership and football operations. This includes quick turns for meetings, facility visits, and other front-office activities. In other words, this aircraft is not a team plane like the Patriots’ 777s, but it is still a very real private-jet-like plane that exists inside a franchise’s ecosystem.
