Sports teams began flying to games in the 1930s, but airplane travel did not become a normal part of professional sports immediately. The Cincinnati Reds made history on June 8, 1934, when they became the first Major League Baseball team to use an airplane to travel between cities, flying from Cincinnati to Chicago.
For several years afterward, however, trains remained the dominant way professional teams traveled. Air travel became increasingly common after World War II as airplanes became safer, more reliable, and better suited to carrying larger groups of passengers.
Today, flying is one of the most important ways professional sports teams travel long distances.
When did sports teams first fly to games?
The earliest well-documented example involving a major American professional team is the 1934 Cincinnati Reds.
On June 8, 1934, the Reds flew from Cincinnati to Chicago for a road game. The flight was a major change from the traditional method of traveling by railroad. MLB’s official Reds history identifies the trip as the first time a Major League Baseball team used an airplane to travel from one city to another.
The trip was relatively short by modern standards, but it demonstrated that airplanes could potentially save teams significant amounts of travel time.
At the time, commercial aviation was still developing. Flying was not yet the routine form of transportation it would eventually become.
Why did teams start flying?
The biggest advantage was speed.
Before airplanes became practical, professional sports teams relied heavily on trains for long-distance travel. Rail transportation was reliable enough to connect major cities, but journeys could take many hours.
The Baseball Hall of Fame notes that baseball clubs routinely traveled by train before practical air travel. One 1911 trip from Philadelphia to Boston, for example, took approximately 10 hours by railroad.
An airplane could dramatically reduce travel time.
That mattered because professional teams had crowded schedules. A team could potentially finish a game in one city and reach another city much faster by air than by rail.
Faster travel also meant more flexibility when leagues created schedules involving distant cities.
Why didn’t every team start flying immediately?
Airplanes in the 1930s were very different from modern passenger aircraft.
Flying was more expensive, aircraft were smaller, and many people still considered air travel relatively risky.
The Baseball Hall of Fame notes that although the Reds pioneered team air travel in 1934, there were only sporadic flights during the following decade. Trains remained the dominant form of transportation for baseball teams.
Teams therefore had good reasons to continue using trains.
Railroads already connected major American cities, and players were familiar with the system. Long-distance passenger trains could also provide sleeping accommodations and other services that made overnight travel possible.
Airplanes had to prove that they could provide a practical alternative.
What was the first sports team to fly?
For a major professional American sports team, the 1934 Cincinnati Reds are generally recognized as the first MLB team to travel by airplane between cities.
They flew from Cincinnati to Chicago on June 8, 1934.
This does not necessarily mean that no athletes or sports groups had ever traveled by airplane before 1934. Individual athletes, exhibition groups, and other sporting organizations had already used aircraft.
The important distinction is that the Reds’ trip is recognized as a milestone for a major league team traveling to a road game.
When did the Red Sox start flying?
The Boston Red Sox were another early MLB team to experiment with air travel.
The team’s official history records that on May 9, 1939, the Red Sox became the first club to travel by air by chartering airplanes for a trip from St. Louis to Chicago.
This illustrates how unusual air travel still was during the 1930s.
Even several years after the Reds’ pioneering flight, teams were still making notable historical milestones when they chose airplanes for particular journeys.
Did teams fly regularly during the 1930s?
Not usually.
Some teams experimented with airplanes, but most professional baseball travel continued to involve trains.
Air travel was still developing, and teams had to consider cost, aircraft availability, safety, airport locations, and scheduling.
The Baseball Hall of Fame describes the 1934 Reds flight as the beginning of a period in which airplane travel occurred only sporadically. It was not until after World War II that flying became common for major league baseball teams.
This transition is important.
There is a difference between the first team to fly and the point at which flying became the normal way teams traveled.
Those events were separated by more than a decade.
What changed after World War II?
World War II accelerated the development of aviation technology and the aircraft industry.
After the war, larger and more capable aircraft became available for civilian use. Commercial aviation expanded, and flying became increasingly practical for long-distance travel.
Professional sports benefited from these developments.
By the late 1940s and 1950s, air travel was becoming a much more important part of professional sports.
Teams could now travel long distances without spending most of a day or night on a train.
This became particularly important as professional leagues expanded geographically.
How did West Coast teams change sports travel?
The expansion of professional sports to the West Coast made air travel increasingly important.
In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles and the New York Giants moved to San Francisco. Suddenly, MLB teams on the East Coast had to travel thousands of miles to play games on the West Coast.
That distance made air travel much more practical than long railroad journeys.
The Baseball Hall of Fame specifically notes that major league baseball’s use of airplane travel increased with the Dodgers’ and Giants’ move to the West Coast in 1958.
The geographic expansion of sports therefore helped accelerate the transition from trains to airplanes.
Did sports teams own their own airplanes?
Eventually, some did.
One of the most notable examples was the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers had already used team airplanes for travel to spring training, but in 1971 they introduced a Boeing 720-B jet known as the Kay O II. MLB’s historical records identify the Dodgers as the first team to own its own airplane and the first sports team to own a jet aircraft.
The difference in travel time was substantial.
The Dodgers’ flight from Los Angeles to Florida, which would have taken more than six hours in the jet’s configuration, was reduced to approximately four and a quarter hours in the Boeing 720-B.
The aircraft reportedly had 105 first-class seats, giving the team an unusually comfortable way to travel.
Why did teams want their own airplanes?
Owning or chartering an aircraft gave teams more control over their schedules.
A normal commercial flight operates according to an airline’s timetable. A team aircraft can be scheduled around games, practices, and other team activities.
This can be especially valuable for professional teams that have to travel frequently.
Team aircraft can also allow players, coaches, executives, and other personnel to travel together.
However, owning an airplane is expensive. Most teams today do not need to own an aircraft because chartering flights or arranging private team travel can provide the necessary flexibility without requiring ownership of a dedicated plane.
Did baseball teams still use trains after airplanes appeared?
Yes.
Trains remained important for many years after the first team flights.
The Baseball Hall of Fame describes trains as the dominant form of baseball travel for decades. Even after the Reds’ 1934 flight, airplane travel was still relatively unusual until after World War II.
This means that a baseball team in the 1930s or early 1940s could potentially use both methods.
A short or convenient rail journey might be made by train, while an especially long trip might make an airplane more attractive.
Eventually, as air travel improved and became more widely available, the balance shifted toward airplanes.
Did other sports start flying at the same time?
Not necessarily.
Different sports and leagues adopted air travel at different rates.
Baseball provides some of the clearest historical records because MLB has documented its transportation history extensively. Other professional sports also gradually adopted air travel as aircraft became more practical.
Football and basketball teams eventually relied heavily on air travel as their leagues became national and international businesses.
The larger the geographic footprint of a league became, the more valuable airplanes became.
A league with teams concentrated in one region could still rely more heavily on ground transportation. A league with teams spread across an entire country had a much stronger reason to fly.
How did flying change sports schedules?
Air travel made it possible to organize much more geographically ambitious schedules.
A team could play in one city and then travel hundreds or thousands of miles without losing as much time to transportation.
This helped professional leagues expand.
For example, once baseball had teams on both coasts, a team could travel between New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and other cities without spending days on trains.
Air travel also helped reduce the physical burden of long-distance transportation.
Players still had to deal with travel fatigue, time zones, and changing schedules, but the journey itself became much shorter.
Did airplanes make professional sports more national?
Yes.
Air travel was one of several technologies that helped professional sports become national and eventually global entertainment.
Railroads had already helped sports expand beyond individual cities in the 19th century. The Baseball Hall of Fame notes that railroad development was closely connected with the rise of professional baseball because teams could travel between cities to compete.
Airplanes took that process much further.
Teams could now travel across an entire country in a fraction of the time required by train.
This helped leagues create national schedules and allowed fans in distant regions to see teams that previously would have been extremely difficult to visit.
How did sports teams travel before airplanes?
Before practical team air travel, trains were the primary long-distance transportation method for many professional sports teams.
Depending on the distance, teams could also use:
- Horse-drawn vehicles
- Streetcars
- Automobiles
- Passenger ships
- Walking for short distances
Railroads were especially important because they connected major American cities.
For example, the Baseball Hall of Fame describes professional baseball teams traveling between cities by railroad as early as the 19th century.
By the early 20th century, rail travel was deeply integrated into professional sports.
How long did team travel take before airplanes?
It depended on the route.
A regional trip might take several hours, while a cross-country journey could take much longer.
The Baseball Hall of Fame documents a 1911 St. Louis Cardinals train trip from Philadelphia to Boston that took approximately 10 hours.
For teams traveling much farther, transportation could consume a substantial portion of their schedules.
Airplanes changed that calculation.
Instead of planning a trip around an overnight train journey, teams could eventually travel between distant cities in only a few hours.
When did flying become normal for professional sports teams?
The transition occurred mainly from the late 1940s through the 1960s.
The first MLB team flight occurred in 1934, but air travel remained uncommon for years. After World War II, better aircraft and expanding commercial aviation made flying increasingly practical. By the 1950s and 1960s, professional sports teams were increasingly using airplanes for long-distance travel.
The growth of coast-to-coast professional leagues accelerated the change.
By the time the Dodgers were operating their own jet in 1971, team air travel had become a well-established part of professional sports.
Frequently Asked Questions
when did sports teams start flying?
Professional sports teams began experimenting with airplane travel in the 1930s. The Cincinnati Reds made the first MLB team flight between cities on June 8, 1934, flying from Cincinnati to Chicago.
What was the first sports team to fly to a game?
The Cincinnati Reds are recognized as the first Major League Baseball team to use an airplane to travel between cities for a game, in 1934.
Did sports teams fly in the 1920s?
Airplanes were already being used by individuals and for various sporting activities in the 1920s, but routine team air travel was not yet established. Professional teams primarily relied on trains.
When did sports teams stop using trains?
They did not stop all at once. Trains remained important after airplanes appeared, but air travel increasingly replaced rail travel for long-distance professional sports trips after World War II.
When did baseball teams start flying regularly?
Regular team air travel developed gradually after World War II. The spread of professional baseball to the West Coast in 1958 helped make flying increasingly important.
Which sports team owned the first team airplane?
The Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to own its own airplane and, in 1971, became the first sports team to own a jet aircraft, according to MLB historical records.
Do sports teams still fly today?
Yes. Professional teams routinely use chartered or specially arranged flights for long-distance travel, particularly in leagues with teams spread across large geographic areas.
Conclusion
So, when did sports teams start flying? The transition began in the 1930s, with the Cincinnati Reds making the first recognized MLB team flight between cities on June 8, 1934.
However, airplanes did not immediately replace trains. For more than a decade, railroads remained the dominant method of professional team travel. Air travel became increasingly common after World War II as aviation technology improved and commercial flying expanded.
The geographic expansion of professional sports, particularly MLB’s move to the West Coast in 1958, further increased the need for fast long-distance transportation. By the 1960s and 1970s, flying had become a normal part of professional sports, with the Dodgers even operating their own team jet by 1971.
Today, flying is so closely associated with professional sports that it is easy to forget that teams once spent entire days traveling by train to reach their next game.