A Boeing 757 fleet pushing 37 years old is on the clock. Delta’s first VIP Airbus A321neo just landed in Minneapolis with lie-flat beds sized for players well over 6 feet — and a September deadline looming.
MINNEAPOLIS — The first of up to 14 VIP Airbus A321neo jets that will fly National Basketball Association teams between games landed in Minneapolis on July 28, starting the retirement of the aging Boeing 757s Delta Air Lines operates for the league.
The aircraft, registered N701DH, flew from Indianapolis International Airport as flight DL9936, departing about 2:07 p.m. EDT and touching down at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at 3:55 p.m. CDT, according to FlightAware tracking data. It has remained on the ground there since, based on reporting published Aug. 6 by Simple Flying, which first detailed the arrival.
The delivery comes with a contractual deadline approaching. The 11 Boeing 757-200s that make up Delta’s specialized 75C subfleet — the jets that have shuttled NBA rosters and, in the offseason, other professional sports teams and ad-hoc charter customers — operate under a contract that expires Sept. 30, 2026, with extension options available for residual aircraft during the transition. Those 757s are leased from Aviation Capital Group and are at least three decades old.
What Delta Is Flying, and Who Owns It
The new jet is an Airbus A321-271NX with manufacturer serial number 13110, carrying Delta fleet number 5701 and powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM geared turbofan engines. It was built in Hamburg, Germany, where it wore the test registration D-AZYN, then ferried to Indianapolis by way of Keflavik, Iceland, on March 23. It remained on the ground there for four months while Comlux completed its VIP interior at the company’s Indiana facility.
Delta does not own the airplane. It is owned by SMBC Aviation Capital and leased to a trust — the Team Vehicle — formed by participating NBA teams and administered by Planet Service Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NBA Properties Inc. The filing identifies UMB Bank, N.A. as trustee of the Team Vehicle. Delta places the aircraft on its Part 121 operating certificate and holds full operational control, supplying crews, maintenance, fuel, insurance and security, and charging block-hour fees that approximate its costs. The Team Vehicle pre-funds major maintenance, engines and parts.
That structure drew a green light from the U.S. Department of Transportation on Oct. 2, 2024, following a July 23, 2024, notification letter filed with the agency by Scott M. Flicker of Paul Hastings LLP on behalf of the parties. The department has treated the arrangement as an extension of exemptions dating to prior orders, including Order 2004-6-9.
Benjamin J. Taylor, director of the DOT’s Office of International Aviation, tied the approval to a specific condition, writing that it rested on the understanding that “for in-season team operations, only members, staff, and guests of the Participating Teams will be transported on the flights and no passenger will be charged for the flights unless specifically authorized by the Department.” Taylor further noted the department can revoke the approval at any time without prior warning.
In season — roughly October through mid-June — the jets are reserved for team members, staff and guests. In the offseason and during downtime, Delta may market and operate ad-hoc charters, paying Charter Rent back to the Team Vehicle. Either side can turn down a charter, and the NBA and the trust play no role in marketing them.
Built for Players Taller Than the Average Passenger
The cabin brief for Delta’s VIP Airbus A321neo program starts with a problem most airlines never face: the passengers are unusually tall. The average NBA player stood just under 6 feet 7 inches in the 2023-24 season, according to Corporate Jet Investor, and the interiors are designed to accommodate people taller than 6 feet.
Program reporting describes lie-flat beds, humidifiers and customizable lighting that Airbus says can reduce jet lag, along with the low cabin altitude standard on the A320 family, which Airbus says keeps cabin pressure equivalent to less than 6,000 feet when cruising at 30,000 feet. The airplane also carries an additional 1,826 cubic feet — 51.7 cubic meters — of hold volume for uniforms, medical supplies and training gear.
The A321neo measures 146 feet long, with a wingspan of 117 feet 5 inches and a height of 38 feet 7 inches, according to Airbus. Its narrow-body size fits a team, staff and equipment without the excess capacity of a wide-body, and its geared turbofans burn substantially less fuel than the PW2000-powered 757s they replace. The outgoing VIP 757s seat 72, against 199 on a standard Delta 757-200, according to Cirium fleet data.
Corporate Jet Investor, which broke news of the program on Sept. 13, 2024, reported that “One person close to the transaction says that player welfare is driving the NBA’s decision.”
Not Every Team Is On Board
Twenty-nine of the league’s 30 clubs are listed as Participating Teams in an exhibit to the 2024 DOT filing. The Dallas Mavericks are the only franchise absent from that list. The Mavericks have long flown their own aircraft, a Boeing 757 registered N801DM that underwent a VIP retrofit in late 2025. The Houston Rockets, which appear on the DOT list, separately operate a Boeing 767 shared with the Houston Astros. Neither arrangement has been characterized as opposition to the program, and the league has not detailed how individual teams will be scheduled onto the new fleet.
No public opposition to the transition has surfaced in primary or tier-1 sources. The DOT review was a routine notification under existing exemption orders, not a contested proceeding.
Neither Delta nor the NBA has publicly commented on the July 28 arrival. Simple Flying said it contacted Delta for comment and published no response. A video showing the aircraft’s interior was posted to Instagram by an account earlier in the week of Aug. 6 and later deleted; no official cabin photos or statements have been released. Whether N701DH will wear standard Delta livery or specialized markings has not been confirmed.
Team chartering in the league dates to 1987, when the Detroit Pistons began chartering for the full slate of away games and other clubs followed. Delta has operated the 75C 757s under a 2015 arrangement approved by the DOT using the same trust model now being carried forward with a new lessor. The first few A321neos are expected to be ready for the 2026-27 season, with the remaining aircraft delivered over roughly the next three years, against a 32-month delivery window set out in the DOT filing. Delta’s separate commercial A321neo fleet continues to grow independently of this leased VIP subfleet.
Key Takeaways
- Delta’s first VIP Airbus A321neo, N701DH, arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul on July 28 after Comlux completed its interior in Indianapolis.
- Up to 14 jets will replace 11 Boeing 757-200s whose contract expires Sept. 30, 2026, with deliveries spanning about 32 months.
- SMBC Aviation Capital owns the aircraft, leased to an NBA team trust; Delta holds operational control under DOT approval granted in October 2024.
- Cabins feature lie-flat beds, humidifiers and 1,826 cubic feet of cargo space for tall players and team gear.
- The Mavericks, the only team absent from the DOT’s Participating Teams list, fly their own refurbished 757; the Rockets, who are on the list, separately operate a 767 shared with the Houston Astros.