Sources: Mercury’s Brittney Griner now allowed to fly charter

PHOENIX — In the wake of Phoenix Mercury star Brittney Griner and her teammates getting harassed Saturday morning while waiting to board a flight to Indianapolis at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, the Mercury are changing travel plans for the rest of the season.

The most significant change to Griner’s travel plans is the ability to fly charter for the Mercury’s remaining road games, an option that wasn’t available at the onset of the 2023 season, a source told ESPN, even though the league claims it had given the Mercury the freedom to let Griner fly private all year.

Sources have told ESPN that the Mercury might be able to use JSX public charter flights for the entire team on both standard and so-called “created” routes, the latter of which other WNBA teams are not allowed to do. However, neither the league nor the Mercury would confirm Friday if that this is the case, nor any other travel details.

Griner’s agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, also did not comment on the travel arrangements going forward but told ESPN she was “fine” with what has now been provided to Phoenix given the special circumstances.

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

Since Saturday’s incident, there has been no clear answer as to why Griner was flying on a commercial airline from Dallas to Indianapolis. The league has said it approved Griner before the 2023 WNBA season began to fly charter for all away games. However, a source told ESPN that the league preapproved Griner for only two charter flights, a claim the league strongly contests.

Since Griner and her teammates were confronted and recorded by a Blaze Media YouTube personality on Saturday, the Mercury were informed that Griner could fly private charter the rest of the year. But sources have indicated that the JXS option might be available for the entire team, not just Griner, so she is not separated from her teammates.

Engelbert said on “OTL” that the JSX service was brought to the league’s attention late last year by Los Angeles Sparks forward and WNBPA president Nneka Ogwumike, who had flown the airline.

The JSX service is allowed by the league for all teams but with certain protocols in place. JSX planes can hold up to 30 people, providing teams the option to buy out an entire flight for their personnel. JSX has a hub in Phoenix but not in several other WNBA cities. And the airline’s flights are on pre-set routes and times, which the WNBA has told teams they are not allowed by league rules to change.

JSX has the ability to create flights outside its…