How to plan charter travel for teams, marching bands and game-day fans, from Atlanta and the Washington, DC area: the right aircraft, college-town airports on busy weekends, and the details that keep everyone on schedule.
Few events move people like a college football weekend. Teams need to arrive rested and focused, marching bands travel with hundreds of musicians and every instrument from piccolos to sousaphones, and alumni and boosters want to be in their seats for kickoff and home again that night. Private charter makes each of these possible, but game weekends bring challenges of their own. Here is how we approach them.
Three kinds of game-day travel
The team
A football travel party of players, coaches, medical and operations staff usually fills a narrow-body airliner, with equipment in the cargo hold. We plan departures from the airport closest to campus, coordinate motor coaches to meet the aircraft on the ramp, and build the schedule around meetings, meals and rest, so the team arrives ready to compete.
The band
A marching band is one of the most rewarding and complex groups to move. With access to aircraft for groups of 300 or more, we can fly an entire band, its staff and its instruments together on a wide-body airliner, or split a very large group across aircraft. Instruments, uniforms and percussion are measured and weighed in advance so that everything is loaded, secured and on the ramp when the band arrives, with time to spare before the first rehearsal.
The fans
For alumni, boosters and families, a light or midsize jet turns an away game into a day trip: depart Saturday morning, tailgate, watch the game and sleep in your own bed that night. Many college towns have airports minutes from the stadium, and from Atlanta most are less than an hour’s flight away.
| College town | Airport | Distance from Atlanta | Light jet flight time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athens, GA | Athens–Ben Epps (AHN) | About 50 nm | About 25 minutes |
| Clemson, SC | Oconee County Regional (CEU) | About 85 nm | About 30 minutes |
| Auburn, AL | Auburn University Regional (AUO) | About 95 nm | About 30 minutes |
| Knoxville, TN | McGhee Tyson (TYS) | About 120 nm | About 35 minutes |
| Columbia, SC | Columbia Metropolitan (CAE) | About 160 nm | About 40 minutes |
| Tuscaloosa, AL | Tuscaloosa National (TCL) | About 170 nm | About 40 minutes |
| Oxford, MS | University–Oxford (UOX) | About 260 nm | About 55 minutes |
| Jackson, MS | Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International (JAN) | About 305 nm | About 1 hour |
From the Washington, DC area
Some of the most storied Saturdays in college football, from the Big House in Ann Arbor to the Horseshoe in Columbus, are an easy flight from the nation’s capital. For private flights we depart from Washington Dulles (IAD), Manassas Regional (HEF) or Leesburg Executive (JYO), all a short drive from Northern Virginia and the District. Reagan National is rarely practical for private charter: every flight must carry an armed security officer, and every passenger and crew member must be vetted at least 24 hours in advance.
| School | Airport | Distance from Dulles | Light jet flight time | Airport to stadium |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Michigan | Willow Run (YIP) | About 340 nm | About 1 hour 5 minutes | About 11 miles |
| Ohio State University | Ohio State University Airport, Don Scott Field (OSU) | About 270 nm | About 55 minutes | About 6 miles |
| Penn State | State College Regional (SCE) | About 115 nm | About 35 minutes | About 3 miles |
| University of Notre Dame | South Bend International (SBN) | About 440 nm | About 1 hour 20 minutes | About 4 miles |
Michigan. Ann Arbor’s own municipal airport, three miles from Michigan Stadium, has a single 3,505-foot paved runway, too short for most business jets. We fly into Willow Run, east of Ann Arbor, which handles jets of every size, or into Detroit Metropolitan for the largest aircraft and team airliners.
Ohio State. The university’s own airport, Don Scott Field, is about six miles from Ohio Stadium and well suited to light and midsize jets. For larger aircraft and airliners carrying teams or bands, John Glenn Columbus International is the natural choice, about the same distance from the stadium.
At under an hour and a half from Dulles, each of these trips is a comfortable day trip: arrive in time for the tailgate, and be home in Washington the same night.
Why game weekends call for early planning
The same airports that make game day so convenient are small, and on the biggest weekends they fill quickly. Athens–Ben Epps, for example, typically sees about 160 flights on a home-game weekend, compared with roughly 60 on an ordinary day, and on its busiest weekends aircraft have been repositioned or sent to nearby airports once parking ran out. In Oxford, the airport offers a limited number of reserved parking spaces for game days, opening reservations the Monday before each event, and may close to arriving aircraft once its ramps are full.
That is why we:
- Secure ramp space early, through the airport’s reservation process where one exists, and confirm it again the week of the game.
- Plan a fallback airport and the ground transportation to go with it, so a full ramp never means a missed kickoff.
- Time departures around the crowd, scheduling the flight home to avoid the post-game rush on the ramp.
A planning timeline
- As soon as the schedule is set. Regular-season dates are known months ahead. Rivalry games, homecoming and season openers book first, so reserving early secures the best aircraft and parking.
- Two to four weeks out. We finalize passenger lists, baggage and instrument counts, catering and ground transportation, from 55-passenger motor coaches for the team or band to Sprinter vans for coaches and staff.
- The postseason. Conference championships, playoff games and bowl games, including the Celebration Bowl in Atlanta, are often confirmed with little notice. We keep options ready so your group can be in the air within days of an invitation.
For larger airliners, passengers and their carry-on bags are screened before boarding under the Transportation Security Administration’s program for private charters. We coordinate that screening with the operator and the airport so it is quick and orderly.
One point of contact, from the first call to the final landing
Whether you are moving a team, a 300-member band or a handful of devoted fans, Principal Jets coordinates every detail, from the aircraft and the airport to the coaches waiting on the ramp. Share your schedule with us, and we will build a travel plan around your season.
