New England Patriots Team Plane Airlifts Americans Out Of The Middle East

The last time we saw a New England Patriots plane get this much fanfare was when it landed in Northern California after carrying the team to the Super Bowl, but on Friday the same plane with the six Lombardi Trophies on the tail was seen in the Middle East.

And this mission was wholly more important than carrying a team to a big game.

Americans Out Of Harm's Way

The plane was chartered by the United States Department of State to carry Americans stranded in the Middle East when the missiles and rockets started to fly at the start of Operation Epic Fury.

Yes, the Patriots plane was used to get civilians out of harm's way and land them safely in Washington, D.C.

And that seems cool because the red, white, and blue plane with "Patriots" emblazoned on its fuselage came to rescue Americans stuck on foreign soil.

Well done, New England Patriots.

Some background:

When not in use by the team during the season, the Patriots' planes – yes, they have two – are operated by a charter company that uses the planes in their inventory of aircraft for various charter flights. 

New England Patriots arrive on their private jet for Super Bowl LII at Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport on January 29, 2018.  (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Patriots Planes Take On Missions

The Patriots encourage the charter company to use the aircraft for missions like this one and other humanitarian and national interest type missions. 

And, yes, there are occasions when Patriots owner Robert Kraft or his family use the planes for other humanitarian missions, but the majority of team plane sightings come from these type of charter services.

In April of 2025, for example, the Patriots plane landed at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. The club said then the plane was being used to carry military personnel.

In 2020, one of the Patriots jets flew to China and back to deliver a massive shipment of more than 1 million N95 masks during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The masks were used in Boston and New York.

New England Patriots players disembark as the AFC Champions arrive at Mineta International Airport in San Jose, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

NFL Players Have It Good

And now a lesson in perspective:

One supposes that the Americans who boarded the Patriots jet were grateful to get out of a potentially dangerous environment and would have happily boarded the Wright Brothers plane if need be, merely to escape.

NFL players, meanwhile, don't necessarily share that gratitude.

New England players have given the Patriots plane that rescued the Americans an F-grade on the last two report cards to the NFL Players Association.

There were complaints about the plane offering no WIFI.

The horror!!!!!

NFL players do not live in the real world. Those Americans who were hoping a bomb wouldn't drop on their heads do live in the real world.

And they were probably quite thrilled the Patriots plane with no WIFI took them home.