Incredible Story Behind Patriots’ Plane Picking Up Masks From China

Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been on top of the organization for a really long time. He has faced multiple challenges during that time. However, these challenges couldn’t prepare the Patriots owner for the plane transport of millions of masks from China.

The Kraft family used the organization’s plane to bring 1 million N95 protective masks from China to the US. It was an excellent gesture, and the Kraft family paid about $2 million to relieve the costs. About 300,000 of these masks were sent to New York City. The area has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic really bad.

It was a hard operation, and Kraft had to do a great number of moving parts. There was a lot of red tape, and Kraft said it was “the most challenging operation” his team has ever taken part in.

Kraft will send his plane back to get more masks

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker shared the details of the operation during his appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show.”

First, they had to find someone with great connections to ease the purchase of the protective masks. Then, they worked on the transportation. They needed a big plane to bring the masks to the country. Kraft’s plane was a perfect fit.

The first step, according to Baker, involved finding someone with global relationships who could help facilitate the purchase of the masks. The next step centered around transportation — specifically, the need for a big private plane — and that’s where the Kraft family entered the equation.

The story in details

“Now, there are lots of small private planes, but if you want to get a big cargo, you need a big private plane,” Baker said, as transcribed by WEEI.com. “As I thought about that, I remembered that the Patriots have a big private plane. So I called Jonathan Kraft and said, ‘I think I have a path to purchase a significant number of N95 masks which we really need.’ I asked the Krafts if they would be willing to spearhead the process of working with us to get the plane out of the U.S. into China and back. Eventually, it became like a humanitarian mission.

“The flight path was basically Boston to Alaska, where people sort of slept and refreshed themselves, and then Alaska to the airport in China. Then three hours on the ground, nobody got off the plane, nobody came into the plane. The only part of the plane that was open was the cargo hold, and the gear was put by a China company into the cargo hold. We had a three-hour window they permitted the plane to be on the ground. They were on the ground for two hours and 57 minutes. Then they flew back to Alaska and flew from Alaska the next day back to Boston.

“It was a lot of moving parts to that thing and a lot of people both in the U.S. and in China were very helpful in making it happen. And we really needed it.”

According to the governor, the humanitarian mission was fascinating and brilliant. It happened at the right time. The nation tries to stop the spread of the virus, and Kraft’s operation was of great help.