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Throughout the 2016 season, the Phillies will take a total of 12 road trips across North America, including their Opening series in Cincinnati and New York. Over 50 flights to 18 cities, they will travel nearly 29,000 miles, based on data from the Great Circle Mapper. That’s far enough to circumnavigate the Earth with enough left over to visit me in Alaska.
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The Phillies' 2016 flight plans according to the Great Circle Mapper.
Their shortest segment this year is just 95 miles between New York and Philadelphia, a trip which they will make three times. On the other hand, the 2,402 mile flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia is one of the longest flights a Major League team can make.
Trip-wise, the Phillies’ shortest road trip (again, in miles), is the 825 miles they will cover during their June swing to Toronto via Washington. The longest trip will be the 5,296 mile trek through three western cities: Minneapolis, San Francisco and Phoenix, also in June.
The Phils’ mean flight is just 760 miles, although with a standard deviation (a statistical measure approximating the average separation from the mean) of 602 miles. Incidentally, it is 666 miles from Atlanta to Philadelphia, a flight which they will take three times. That should tell you something, though wether about Atlanta or Philadelphia, I am not sure.
The Phillies, like nearly a dozen other Major League teams, have an agreement to charter planes from Delta Airlines. While the aircraft used varies depending on the length of the trip and what is available, they have several times in the past flown aboard a Boeing 747-400.
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A Delta Airlines 747 at LAX.
Assuming that their flights this year will be on a similar aircraft (they won't), and assuming they travel at an average cruise speed with minimal time spent in delays (they won't), the Phightins will spend a disturbingly large amount of time in the air this year. Add in roughly an hour per flight for climbout and landing, and another for taxi time, and they're looking at a dismal 153 hours on aircraft.
Now, to be fair, they're flying in essentially all first class, which isn't a terrible way to spend a day, and they're doing it in small bunches. Still, that's a lot of frequent flyer miles.
The Phillies, like any baseball team, will take their share of road trips in 2016. While not really spending much time on the road, they will crisscross the country, and Canada, by air.