AEW is still dealing with the fallout from the nationwide flight mess just hours before Full Gear. Some wrestlers still haven’t made it to Phoenix, and the company is now taking matters into its own hands to get them there.
According to Bryan Alvarez of the Wrestling Observer, a handful of AEW wrestlers remain stranded ahead of tonight’s Full Gear pay-per-view. Instead of waiting around and hoping commercial flights sort themselves out, AEW is sending charter flights to pick them up.
“There are a handful of AEW wrestlers that still haven’t made it to Full Gear, but charters are being sent to pick them up.”
The travel nightmare started after a telecommunications outage disrupted air traffic control operations and triggered a nationwide FAA ground stop on November 13. Thousands of flights were delayed or canceled, creating immediate problems for wrestling companies trying to move talent around the country.
AEW was hit particularly hard because not everyone traveled to Phoenix immediately after Wednesday’s Dynamite. Some wrestlers had already made the trip, but others were still waiting to fly when the shutdown hit, leaving their Full Gear status dependent on when travel could resume.
The FAA eventually lifted the ground stop and allowed domestic flights to resume, but that didn’t magically clear the mess sitting behind it. Airlines still had delayed and canceled flights to work through, which explains why AEW is still missing talent on the actual day of the pay-per-view.
AEW wasn’t the only wrestling company sweating the situation either. TNA has Destination X scheduled for November 15 in Edmonton, with much of its roster expected to travel on Saturday, while WWE has NXT live events around the Midwest this weekend. Independent wrestlers traveling for bookings were caught in the same uncertainty.
For AEW, though, the clock is officially ticking. Sending charter flights shows the company isn’t leaving this up to the airlines anymore, and now it comes down to whether those last few wrestlers can get into Phoenix before Full Gear goes live.
Do you think AEW will manage to get everyone to Phoenix in time for Full Gear tonight? Let us know what you think in the comments.
