WNBA Allowing Brittney Griner To Fly Charter After Airport Incident

After an unfortunate incident at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport last week, Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner gets the okay to fly charter for the remainder of the WNBA season.

According to ESPN, the Mercury might be able to use JSX public charter flights for the entire team on standard and "created" routes so as to not split up the team while traveling.

After Griner, who was flying commercial with her team last week, was approached and harassed by a Blaze Media YouTube personality, the Mercury was informed that Griner could fly private charter for the rest of this season. Sources indicated to ESPN that the JXS option may be available for the entire team so that Griner is not separated from her teammates.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert confirmed that Griner's travel and security plans have been adjusted on ESPN's "Outside the Lines" on Friday.

The JSX service is allowed by the league for all teams with certain protocols. The planes can hold up to 30 people, which provides teams the option to buy out an entire flight. JSX has a hub in Phoenix, but not in every WNBA city.

JSX flights are on pre-set routes and times. And while JSX has the option of creating flights outside of its pre-set schedule, the WNBA prohibits that but might adjust that for Phoenix because of the unique circumstances with Griner's high profile after being imprisoned in Russia for 10 months.

"We're just working with Phoenix to make sure we have a good plan going forward," Engelbert said on ESPN on Friday. "Certainly, for Brittney and for the rest of the Phoenix Mercury."

Terri Jackson, executive director of the WNBA players' union spoke with Griner last week and said she's frustrated.

"She said, 'We knew this was going to happen,'" Jackson said. "She said, 'Terri, I read the mail that comes to my locker. It's fan mail, but it's also a lot of hate mail.'"

Last week when the Mercury played in Dallas and were traveling to Indianapolis for a game, Griner and her teammates were approached by YouTube personality Alex Stein.

One of Griner's teammates, Brianna Turner, took to Twitter to discuss the incident and player safety while traveling, tweeting, "Player safety while traveling should be at the forefront. People following with cameras saying wild remarks is never acceptable - excessive harassment. Our team nervously huddled in a corner, unsure how to move about. We demand better."

The WNBA issued a statement shortly after the incident.

"As we gather additional information about today’s incident at the Dallas Airport, it has come to our attention that a social media figure and provocateur orchestrated this. His actions were inappropriate and unfortunate,” the statement began.

"The safety of Brittney Griner and all WNBA players is our top priority. Before the season, the WNBA worked with the Phoenix Mercury and BG’s team to ensure her safety during her travel, which included charter flights for WNBA games and assigned security personnel with her at all times. We remain steadfastly committed to the highest standards of security for players."

The Mercury also issued a statement on Instagram.

The discussion of charter flights for the WNBA is not a new one. Earlier this year, USA Today reported on the charter flight issue.

Since the WNBA's inception in 1997, teams have flown to games commercially during the regular season. The WNBA added charter flights for this season's playoffs, but only a few regular season games were scheduled for such flights.