Private planes and roadtrips: AEW goes above and beyond to get to Phoenix for Full Gear despite travel chaos

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All Elite Wrestling (AEW) has launched a nationwide nightmare to ensure its talent and staff make it to Phoenix for Full Gear on Saturday, despite the travel chaos that has hit millions across the United States.

AEW owner Tony Khan flew wrestlers and other workers in on private planes just to make sure they would show up for fans, who were expected to fill the Mortgage Matchup Center for one of the company’s best pay-per-views on the calendar.

“I know these last few days have been incredibly difficult for many people,” Khan said in a video posted to his social media. “My condolences to everyone affected by all the flight cancellations and delays. Yesterday, as you can imagine, was a hectic day for many people with the flights grounded and that applied to all flights yesterday – private and public flights. For AEW, we are like everyone else, we are not trying to break any rules. Everyone was grounded and we started to formulate a plan which really worked out. went well.”

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A person looks at a flight information board at LaGuardia Airport in New York.

A person looks at a flight information sign at LaGuardia Airport in New York on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026, after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights nationwide. (AP Photo/Ryan Murphy)

Khan said everyone on the Full Gear pay-per-view card had arrived in Phoenix. Khan sent private planes to three “hubs” to bring wrestlers and other staff to the Mortgage Matchup Center. The only thing that changed was the Tailgate Brawl – which will happen during the Full Gear pre-show.

Khan said he thought everyone probably would have managed to catch their scheduled flight.

“I think it was virtually impossible given how many of the flights of the people who work at AEW were canceled if I hadn’t sent the private planes to all three hubs, I think it’s very unlikely that everyone would have gotten here. I think there probably would have been changes to the main card.”

Adam Copeland, who faces Kazuchika Okada for the AEW International Championship, said it was “difficult” to get from the East Coast to Phoenix.

“I was on the runway about to take off for Denver and the pilot came and told me there was a nationwide ground stop. I was like, ‘OK.’ I called Beth (Phoenix) and she came to pick me up and I went home,” he said. “I didn’t know if I was going to make it today. All my flights started getting canceled one after the other. Everyone else’s flights were starting to take off, but not mine.

“Even still, my flight to come here is tomorrow at 5:37 p.m. So, Tony Khan sent a plane to pick us up. Poor (Tony) Schiavone got here early so he was sitting there at 9 o’clock. I don’t think we were leaving until 11 o’clock so I was like, come have a coffee, come pet my dogs. We had a big dog cuddle party this morning and my daughters met Tony and we had coffee – we we made the most of it.”

Tony Schiavone, one-third of AEW’s broadcast team, was about to leave Atlanta when he made a last-minute decision to take a smaller plane from Asheville, North Carolina, due to uncertainty that it might have been delayed or canceled. He told his wife he wasn’t going to drive to Phoenix, but would have if he had time to make the 27-hour trip.

Tony Schiavone stands in the ring during AEW Collision.

Tony Schiavone is in the ring during AEW Collision on June 15 at the Covelli Center in Youngstown, Ohio. (Sportswire Icon via Getty Images)

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“But it was good because I waited, I got to hang out with Adam Copeland, which was pretty cool,” he said. “It was a pretty cool day but it was a very rough day. I guess I got here around 2 p.m. local time in the afternoon. My car is still in Asheville. I don’t know how I’m going to get it but that doesn’t matter. I’m happy to be here. I would do anything to get to Full Gear. …I would have driven to Phoenix! I would have, but I didn’t have time.”

Mark Davis and Jake Doyle, the duo known as Davis and Doyle, will fight for the AEW World Tag Team Championship against The Young Bucks. But it was not easy for them to enter the arena.

“The tumultuous last 24 hours before Full Gear,” Davis said. “For me, I had to drive across the great state of Florida. I went from Tampa to Orlando, trying to catch a flight – that didn’t happen. Luckily the big guy was rooting for us and I think he’s pretty excited to see Davis and Doyle beat some Young Bucks here tonight at Full Gear.”

Doyle made it clear: “It’s a bad day to be a Buck.”

“It was already a bad day to be a Buck, but then I had to drive to Detroit, then to Chicago, and then sit on a private jet, which is pretty awesome, but I had to sit on that jet for eight hours, waiting to get here to rip these Young Bucks apart.

“So, Tony Khan, thanks for the throw. Young Bucks, I don’t feel sorry for you.”

Matt and Nick Jackson – The Young Bucks – were only in California. They had to go to Phoenix.

“We thought, we’re lucky, we’re in California. A lot of these guys go further than us, but we’ll do everything – planes, trains and automobiles – we’ll be here at Full Gear,” Matt Jackson said. “We have a big match tonight – Davis and Doyle. Two intimidating idiots who actually had our number the last two times we were in the ring. We talked about it on the ride. We had six hours to really think about it and strategize. Yes, the ride sucked but we’re ready and we’re going to rock the house tonight at Full Gear.”

Excalibur, Schiavone’s teammate, said he was at the gym when he received a message about the chaos of the trip. He said he planned to jump in a car to drive from Southern California to Phoenix. He drove five hours to get to the arena, but was comforted by the fact that he had the chance to stop in the desert where he doesn’t usually stop.

“I made it. I wouldn’t miss it for anything. I know people have a lot tougher travel days than me. I mean five hours away is doable, but in terms of struggle it’s nothing,” he said. “I wasn’t going to miss it for anything. I know a lot of people in AEW, everyone in AEW, has the same idea, the same feeling, if there’s a way for them to be here today, they’ll be here at Full Gear. … There’s nothing that can stop me from Full Gear today.”

Nigel McGuinness, the third person on the broadcast team, arrived in Phoenix from Los Angeles. He jumped in his car when he learned of the travel problems.

“I couldn’t miss Full Gear,” he said. “There’s something about the world of professional wrestling where you put on a show no matter what. I’ve never missed a show and there was no way I was going to miss Full Gear.”