The Patriots football team made one of its Boeing 767-300ER planes available to transport masks from China to the United States.
All 1,2 million N95 masks were purchased by the team, which also paid for the trip from China to the US.
Much of the cargo that arrived at Boston/Logan International Airport, in Massachusetts, stayed there. In addition, the New England Patriots decided to send 300000 N95 masks to New York, which is currently the hardest hit state by the pandemic in the country.
“I have never seen so much bureaucracy in so many ways and obstacles that we had to overcome. In today's world, those lucky enough to make a difference have a significant responsibility to do so with all the assets we have at our disposal.”, said Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots.
The team has a total of two Boeing 767-300ER aircraft. The aircraft were acquired from American Airlines in 2017, with a lot of use, as they were manufactured in 1991. The interiors of the planes were configured with first-class seats, to provide greater comfort for players.
In addition to being able to travel routes with more than 10 km, with the Boeing 767-300ER the team can also take all the players, in addition to the team and the high amount of equipment needed on the road.
Previously, the team paid US$ 4 million for 10 flights with aircraft of this size, with the Boeing 767 the cost per flight is lower, despite the high acquisition cost, but this can be reduced by renting the two aircraft in the off-season of games.
