The Los Angeles Rams didn’t head to Australia on a normal team charter. They climbed aboard a Qantas Airbus A380, the biggest passenger jet ever built, for what is being billed as the longest trip in franchise history.
Raj Mathai captured the departure at LAX at 10:10 p.m. Tuesday, and the video made the aircraft the main character.
Joe Pompliano highlighted the flight and pointed out, “The Rams are taking a Qantas Airbus A380 from Los Angeles to Melbourne.” He also called it the most expensive commercial airliner on earth.
The setup is as extravagant as it sounds. The upper deck is loaded with business-class lie-flats, enough for every player and some coaches.
Downstairs, first class includes fourteen suites, while most of the lower deck is still reserved for economy. It is basically a flying hotel built for a football team.
But there’s a catch that turns the whole thing into a very modern NFL travel story: no Wi-Fi. Qantas has not completed the wiring across its A380 fleet, and that rollout is expected to run into 2027. As Pompliano put it, “But those airplanes also don’t have wifi, which doesn’t sound ideal for 34 hours of flight time in 2-3 days.”
Mathai’s footage showed the double-decker jet pushing away from the gate, and he later wrote, “Wheels up. Rams depart LAX. 15 hour flight to Melbourne.” The Rams are scheduled to arrive Thursday morning and then play Friday morning local time.
This game carries some history with it, too. The Australia opener will be the first regular-season NFL game played on that continent. Netflix has Thursday night in the States.
The Rams are also following the same basic path the 49ers took a week earlier, though San Francisco used the extra days to help handle the jet lag. The Rams, by contrast, loaded up late and treated the A380 like a road bus. That schedule already pushed Kickoff Night to Wednesday.
Bosa and Kittle will be in uniform on the other sideline, while Stafford and the Rams try to manage the trip without the benefit of in-flight streaming. Qantas did stock larger pyjamas for the 49ers charter, and the Rams are getting the same flying kangaroo and the same dark cabin.
It’s the biggest passenger plane in the sky, and it still has no Wi-Fi. Melbourne will find out Friday whether the luxury and the blackout were worth it.
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