Final Four Minneapolis organizers say Sun Country abruptly canceled team welcome space, scuttling plans at last minute

When hometown airline Sun Country backed out, Delta Air Lines stepped in to provide a hangar and charter flights for some of the women's Final Four teams last week, organizers and the airlines said Tuesday.

Wendy Burt, spokeswoman for Twin Cities-based Sun Country, confirmed the airline had "discussed" flying the Final Four teams to and from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport on charters, but determined that wouldn't work.

Wendy Blackshaw, CEO and president of Minnesota Sports and Events, said months of planning and discussions were thrown into limbo one week before the teams were scheduled to arrive because Sun Country informed the planners that, due to an aircraft maintenance issue, the hangar wouldn't be available.

Burt said the airline offered its headquarters building, which is adjacent to the hangar, as an alternative space for the welcome event, but the host committee told them it wasn't large enough.

There was a separate issue with flights. Burt said Sun Country had hoped to provide the charter service for the teams. "But given the peak travel season and our scheduled service, we were not able to add those charters," she said.

March is Sun Country's busiest month with Minnesota's spring breakers seeking tickets to warmer destinations. "The airlines are trying to meet all this demand right now and we had to prioritize our scheduled service," Burt said, adding they didn't want to scuttle travellers' spring break plans.

Blackshaw was unaware of the flight issues because the NCAA handled charter arrangements. But for the welcome reception, the organizers turned to Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines.

"We moved over to Delta and they did a phenomenal job," Blackshaw said. "Delta bent over backwards to make the space really clean and nice, so we went in and decorated it. Their arrivals were awesome."

Delta confirmed that they flew some of the teams to Minneapolis and took over handling the arrival receptions at MSP, said John Mazza, general manager of Delta's MSP base maintenance.

"We were able to quickly pivot to accommodate flight arrangements for all four schools, and the Delta MSP team jumped into action to ensure the team's experience was exactly what these elite athletes deserve," Mazza said in a statement.

After landing, each team was taken for a 15-minute welcome at a decorated Delta hangar where Milwaukee Bucks DJ Shawna spun music.

By Tuesday last week, all Final Four teams were in town. They were: Connecticut, Louisville, South Carolina and Stanford.

Delta is the dominant carrier at MSP, accounting for more than 70% of all passenger traffic. Sun Country is a distant second with 10% of all passenger traffic at MSP.

The two airlines operate on different business models, which played a role in this kerfuffle.

Delta builds slack into its system — which typically translates into higher airfare — to accommodate for unexpected scheduling conflicts. This includes extra aircraft, people and time. Sun Country tries to keep fares low by running a leaner operation with tight schedules and staffing. This leaves little wiggle room for delays or maintenance setbacks.

The airline industry, in general, has struggled over the last six months to keep operations running smoothly and without disruption. The holidays saw a bevy of cancelations across multiple airlines with sick crew members and aircraft availability foiling plans.

Sun Country was founded as a charter airline before branching out into scheduled service — industry parlance for commercial air travel. The airline also runs a sizeable cargo business, including a major contract with Amazon.

Today, it is the leading charter airline for NCAA sports, flying more than 150 college sports teams in 2021, according to a recent securities filing. Apart from athletic teams, Sun Country is a frequent contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense and private casinos.

More than 20% of its revenue comes from its charter business.

"We have valued the charter service we've provided in the past for the NCAA and hope to be able to partner with them again in the future," the airline said in a statement.