Owner of Two Private Jets, Shaquille O’Neal Revisits the Horrors of Travelling to Charles Barkley’s Least Favorite Town & Abu Dhabi

Anyone who’s been inside a commercial flight can relate to the aches of cramped seating. If regular-sized humans have it hard, what if you’re Big Diesel-sized? Shaquille O’Neal has endured his fair share of common commercial flight horrors in his jet-setting career. He avoids them now with a multi-million dollar solution. Regardless, he’s still got a lot of funny anecdotes about flying that would make us go, ‘that happened to me too.’

Shaq’s globetrotting was the subject of his interview with GQ recently. His 7’1″ frame doesn’t fit in regular vehicles easily. Nonetheless, his mile-high adventures are as larger-than-life as his persona.

Shaquille O’Neal revealed his jet-setting horrors

GQ wanted to know what’s it like flying as a 7’1″ tall person. Shaquille O’Neal revealed that it’s a lot like what many endure in commercial flights. Just bigger. Like many frequent flyers, Shaq’s developed his own habits to maximize comfort.

O’Neal revealed that he always tries to secure extra legroom in the front row or way in the back in the exit row. That doesn’t save him from the perils of having strangers sit next to him. “I had two guys snoring on top of me one time. Not on top of me, but next to me! You know what I meant to say,” he exclaimed during his interview with GQ.

When asked about his early commercial flight adventures that were not in first class, Shaq threw it back to the ’80s.

He was frequently flying between Baton Rouge where he was studying at LSU and San Antonio where his family was. This was decades before his friend, Charles Barkley would express his distaste for San Antonio.

Shaq was a regular customer of Southwest then. Because of this, the staff at both gates would recognize him. He took advantage of that. “I’d show up like three hours early and they’d say, ‘Pick a seat!’ ”

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He had more stories to share. “Last time I flew commercial we went to Abu Dhabi. It wasn’t first class, it was business class. I was supposed to have one of those bed thingies. But they don’t make those for a guy my size.”

Of course, the Los Angeles Lakers legend has put those problems behind him now. And he’s done so in style.

Shaq’s mile-high splurge

Commercial flight horrors have not been Shaq’s problem for 15 years. With his NBA stardom, he was able to afford to fly in private jets. After renting private flights for many years, he got his own private jet.

Most recently, the Lakers superstar is the proud owner of a Bombardier Challenger 650. This piece of metal that cruises in the skies comes with a price tag of $27 million. He put his spin on it with the famous Dunkman logo. It’s the second private jet in the $400 million legend’s collection.

Shaq spends his time on his jet working on music, enjoying his legroom, and relaxing. He even hinted at learning to fly his plane himself. Do you also relate to Shaq’s commercial flight dramatics?

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