The New England Patriots team planes are used for a whole lot more than just moving players around – often in praise-worthy moves.
They’ve helped other teams travel to championship games and delivered over 1 million face masks as part of early COVID-19 response.
But this week, flight records showed that one of the planes made a trip to one of the most controversial destinations possible: the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba.
According to public flight records, the Patriots team plane registered N36NE traveled from Fort Worth, Texas to Guantánamo Bay and left a few hours later.
The Patriots team planes are operated by a charter company called Omni Air and are often chartered for other uses. When asked about the flights to Guantánamo, a Kraft Sports + Entertainment spokesperson told WBUR that Omni Air “uses the Patriots planes as part of their inventory when chartering to the Department of Defense to move military personnel.”
“The New England Patriots organization is not involved in, nor does it approve, sanction, or coordinate the uses of the aircrafts when they are chartered for non-team purposes,” the spokesperson added.
The base at Guantánamo Bay is one of the most infamous military facilities operated by the United States government. It is best known as the site where the U.S. government held suspected terrorists.
Guantánamo Bay has become a hot-button topic once again as a detention facility to hold deportees removed from the country under sweeping immigration arrests under the direction of President Donald Trump.
A Patriots spokesperson told HuffPost in an email that the team plane was not used to aid in deportation efforts.
“The New England Patriots plane was not used for any kind of deportation flight and there were no detainees on the plane,” the spokesperson said to HuffPost. “Under our current charter manager, neither of the Patriots planes have ever been used for that purpose.”
The White House backed up that statement. Deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Vanity Fair that there is no link between the Patriots and deportation efforts.
“While those assisting with President Trump’s mass deportation of migrant criminals are great patriots, there is no contract with the New England Patriots to facilitate deportations,” she said to Vanity Fair.
The Patriots team plane recently came under criticism from the franchise’s own players. In the 2025 NFLPA report card, players complained that the plane is too small and had ashtrays in the armrests.”
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