As the National Women’s Volleyball Team flew to Texas, USA for the second week of the Nations League matches, the team players traveling in economy class caused a great reaction on social media. The fact that the team members traveled in separate seats and in economy class during the long flight has been widely echoed in the sports community and public opinion.
Reaction from Players
Ebrar Karakurt, one of the important players of the national team, criticized the situation in a post on her social media account and said, “They continue to allocate private planes for other teams, but when it comes to us, it is economy.” After Ebrar Karakurt’s post, other members of the team, Eda Erdem, Hande Baladın and Simge Aköz also protested the situation by showing similar reactions.
Responsibility Dispute Between THY and TVF
Turkish Airlines (THY) and the Turkish Volleyball Federation (TVF) made statements one after the other after the reactions on social media increased. Yahya Üstün, Turkish Airlines Press Secretary Yahya Üstün made a statement on the X platform, stating that the federations are responsible for the ticketing processes. “A certain flight planning is made at the beginning of the year and ticketing processes are carried out according to these plans,” Üstün said.
Ahmet Bolat, Chairman of the Board of Directors of THY, said on LinkedIn that they give three times the budget to TVF and that the federations decide how to use this budget. Bolat said, “We make business upgrades in case of availability on economy flights. In today’s flight, 3 of our athletes are flying business”.
Responding to another user’s message on LinkedIn, Bolat stated that from now on, he would especially follow the international flights of female athletes and said, “If we are informed in advance about the calendars of national competitions, especially in long destinations where our wide-body airplanes fly, we can make our plans more easily. We should not allow such occasions of national pride, which should unite our nation, to become a material for vicious political polemics.” Bolat also stated that he instructed his personal staff to follow up and added, “If necessary, we will change the type of plane and fly business.”
Statement from TWF
TVF responded to THY’s statements and gave information about the ticketing and cabin upgrade processes. “Since we could not get a Business Class ticket, we specifically requested a cabin upgrade from THY. However, it was reported that this could be done according to availability before the flight. On the flight on May 26, 2024, none of our players could benefit from this right.”
TVF also stated that the contract with THY is within the scope of the barter contract and does not include any financial payment, and that all rights are used as flight tickets in federation activities in accordance with the contract. TWF emphasized that its statements were not contrary to the truth and that the flight lists were shared with THY officials on May 17, 2024.
Following the Developments
After the incident, neither THY nor TVF issued a new statement. However, the Sultans of Turkish Filenin’s trip to the USA has caused widespread repercussions in the Turkish sports public opinion and led to a discussion on the value given to athletes.
The ongoing discussions on social media and various platforms have led to an increase in support for the volleyball players and a wider audience embracing the issue. It remains to be seen how the developments will play out.
