NOT SO FRIENDLY SKIES: ‘The Hoya’ Aims for Takedown of Georgetown’s Chartered Flights

The Hoya draws a connection from Georgetown to GlobalX to ICE deportation flights

Ah, The Hoya. Georgetown’s venerable student newspaper, known for its hard-hitting investigations and… eventually reporting on last month’s basketball game. This time, they’ve really outdone themselves, taking a soaring leap to connect your Georgetown Hoyas with the deeply serious issue of ICE deportation flights. Their evidence? Publicly available flight data suggesting the team and deported migrants may have flown on the same airline, GlobalX. Hold onto your carry-ons, folks, because this connection feels about as solid as a Spirit Airlines layover.

The Hoya meticulously tracked the Georgetown men’s basketball team’s travel schedule, noting their use of chartered GlobalX flights for eight away games. They then cross-referenced this with information about GlobalX being a major contractor for ICE deportation flights. And yes, the data indicates some of the same planes that carried our Hoyas to almost-victory (eventually reported on by The Hoya, of course) also later carried deported migrants.

But let’s take a timeout here. Does flying on the same airline automatically make you complicit? By that logic, we should all be side-eyeing our grandma because she probably mailed a birthday card via the United States Postal Service, the same service that regrettably delivers tax bills, liens, and insurance coverage denials.

Does sharing an arm rest with an arms dealer make someone a gun runner? Does driving on the same highway system as radical protesters mean we joined their cause?

Terrorists have likely communicated on the same Gmail you use to RSVP to potluck dinners. Does that make you an accomplice to global terrorism? Where is the line?

The Hoya quotes Tom Cartwright, a retired banking executive who tracks deportation flights, saying it’s “highly, highly probable” that a specific GlobalX flight carried both the basketball team at one point and a detained researcher later. Probability is a tricky thing, especially when dealing with logistics on a large scale—or Georgetown’s roster availability on a given night.

Airlines, especially charter companies, operate numerous flights for various clients. GlobalX itself apparently acknowledged flying 12 college basketball teams during the season. Georgetown is right to charter flights. It’s more necessity than luxury in today’s game. My bet is that the other 11 programs were tournament-level teams.

If The Hoya wants the Georgetown basketball program to avoid future contracting with GlobalX because of its connection to ICE, it needs to be more explicit and offer alternatives. I’m not sure a boycott of GlobalX would affect any decision making of a company with a $65 million-per-year government contract.

We could offer the Casual Hoya private jet for the team’s use, but unfortunately it’s been grounded for degreasing and deep cleaning after a certain coach borrowed it.

Seriously, everyone can absolutely acknowledge the gravity of deportation issues and the complex politics surrounding immigration. The experiences described by GU postdoctoral researcher Badar Khan Suri on an ICE flight are deeply concerning. That is worthy of deep coverage.

However, connecting Georgetown basketball to this simply because they used the same jet or airline feels like a reach longer than Patrick Ewing’s wingspan. They are not subsidizing, sponsoring, or even condoning any actions by chartering the planes.

And speaking of reaches, let’s not forget The Hoya’s notorious delay in covering basketball games. The coverage needs to be quicker. One might suspect The Hoya’s traditional rigorous editing and review process is still necessary, the outlet occasionally misses the fast-breaking news cycle of, you know, sports. Continue to find and tell important stories at any rate, but perhaps try to emulate national journalists in covering athletics.

So, while The Hoya has certainly unearthed some interesting publicly available flight data, the leap to suggest a meaningful link between Georgetown basketball and ICE deportation flights seems, at best, a bit of an air ball.