After 24-hour travel ordeal, DC United ready for Sporting Kansas City

Everyone has a bad air travel story. D.C. United, who face off against Sporting Kansas City on Friday night (9:30 pm ET, MLS LIVE), have an especially bad one.

A quick three-hour flight to Kansas City turned into a nearly 24-hour ordeal that left D.C. United arriving in Kansas City only hours before kickoff. The team left Washington, D.C. on Thursday afternoon with plans to be in Kansas City that same evening.

Instead, inclement weather in Kansas City – the same weather that has since pushed back the match’s start time – spurred a series of delays and an airport evacuation that forced D.C. United to hire a charter plane to make it in time for kickoff. They got into Kansas City around 1 pm local time on Friday, nearly 24 hours after the trip began.

It started simply enough. United’s players and staff arrived at Reagan National Airport at 1:30 pm on Thursday for a 3:30 pm direct flight to Kansas City. Boarding went a little slow and it sat on the runway a bit long, but once it took off, it looked like it would land around the 5:30 pm scheduled time.

About a half hour from landing, the pilot came over the speaker and told passengers there was some turbulence ahead. Seconds later, he came back on telling everyone the flight needed to be diverted to Chicago, where the plane has just passed. A tornado had been spotted near the Kansas City airport and terminals there were evacuated.

Things didn’t get much better in Chicago. A replacement flight was delayed and then canceled outright, forcing United’s players and staff to find a hotel for the night and figure out a solution in the morning. With throngs of passengers also stranded, D.C. United opted to use one of their four allowed charter flights for the season.

The team generally plans their schedule to be in nearby destination cities at least 24 hours before a match, but D.C. United spokeswoman Lindsay Simpson said the team feels ready to play despite the short turnaround.

“Everyone's excited versus being tired,” said Simpson, who traveled with the team during the ordeal. “There’s a lot of energy because after all this travel and all these challenges, everyone’s pretty amped to get out there and make it worth the trip.”