Maybe the Los Angeles Dodgers wanted to fly home in style, on an aircraft built for a team that, until recently, was just as much a juggernaut as they are.
Or maybe the recently crowned World Series winners just needed a plane.
Whatever the case, the champions of the baseball world raised eyebrows Thursday morning when they arrived at Los Angeles International Airport in a plane adorned with the name and colors of the New England Patriots. Local news footage showed the Dodgers players, fresh off a rollercoaster, series-clinching win over the New York Yankees, disembarking from the private jet that is used by Patriots.
The “AirKraft” — named after owner Robert Kraft — ferried the Dodgers home on Thursday, presumably after the World Series champions contacted the third-party charter service that operates the plane, a source close to the Patriots said.
Few on the West Coast expected to see the likes of Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman touch down in California on a Patriots jet. In one news segment, the anchors at KTLA 5 voiced their confusion on the air, asking, “What in the world is happening?”
After a field reporter confirmed that it was World Series MVP Freddie Freeman coming down the ladder, and not Drake Maye, the confusion turned to jokes. One anchor suggested that “Bill Belichick wasn’t busy today,” while another mused that “the Patriots have not won a championship in a while” — though he neglected to mention who they beat out to win their last Super Bowl.
The Patriots own two Boeing 767-300s, which are operated by Omni Air International; when not in use by the NFL team, Omni uses the aircraft for its other charter customers.
It’s not clear if the Dodgers requested the plane specifically, or if it was assigned to them. In a statement earlier this year, an Omni Air executive was quoted as saying that the AirKraft’s “uniqueness” is “attractive across our diverse customer base.” Representatives for the Dodgers did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.
FlightAware data shows an Omni 767 that took off from Newark Liberty International Airport at 5:23 a.m., landing at Los Angeles International Airport at 8:20 a.m. Pacific time. The same plane is scheduled to arrive at Providence’s T. F. Green International Airport by Thursday evening, according to FlightAware, before the Patriots travel to Nashville to face the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.