Elon Musk's new jet sparks speculation: a mysterious connection with Janet Airlines?

When an eccentric billionaire acquires another airliner, it doesn't usually qualify as news-worthy. Displaying a lack of concern for the millions impacted by the climate crisis and indifference towards personal impact on the planet seem to be inherent traits of figures like Elon Musk.

Just as a point in case, in 2023 alone, one of Elon Musk’s many jets (some are registered as SpaceX or Falcon Landing LCC planes), a Gulfstream G650ER with the registration number N628TS, completed 441 flights, spending at least 1161 hours in the air.

However, this new aircraft belonging to the owner of the X service has triggered much more excitement than just concerns about greenhouse gas emissions. So, what is this aircraft and why does it evoke more interest than usual?

The Boeing 737 purchased in January of 2024 is a medium-sized, narrow-bodied passenger aircraft - one of Boeing's most successful designs and a cornerstone of this corporation's current dominance. The aircraft was engineered in response to the demand for short- and medium-range flights during the 1960s.

A critical feature of the Boeing 737 was the optimisation of its body and wings for frequent take-offs and landings – the most energy-demanding parts of a flight. As a result of these efforts, the Boeing 737 has become the all-time best-selling passenger aircraft.

By the end of December 2023, over 11,600 units had been produced (out of over 16,000 ordered). Despite the Boeing 737 design being more than 50 years old, new airplanes are still being manufactured, ordered and, barring the latest 737 MAX version plagued by countless design and programming faults, they are high performers.

Elon Musk's plane, previously owned by Air China and now registered to Falcon Landing LCC, is a variant of Boeing 737, specifically a 737-800 with the registration number N154TS.

The airliner in this configuration is almost 40 metres long and its wings span 33.6 metres, ending in winglets – upturned tips that reduce turbulence at the end of the wing.

Thanks to reduced aerodynamic resistance, the jet's range, fuelled by its two CFM56 turbofan engines fitted directly under the lower wing surface, extends to more than 5,400 kilometres.

With an unladen weight of about 41 tonnes, the maximum aircraft weight exceeds 79 tonnes. Passengers (the craft is certified to carry up to 189 people) or various cargoes can make up as much as 23 tonnes of this weight.

However, why has Elon Musk's new jet provoked such curiosity?

The intrigue lies not in the technical specifications of the new aircraft, but in its paint job. The aircraft, registered as N154TS, was noticed by aviation enthusiasts at an airport in Los Angeles.

The body of the aircraft has been painted in a gray tone, with a single black stripe running at window height. What's so peculiar about this?

This paint scheme has been linked by conspiracy theory enthusiasts to Janet Airlines, often dubbed as the world's most mysterious airline. Although the existence of this airline is public knowledge, officially available, credible information about it is very limited.

Janet Airlines (Just Another Non Existent Terminal) is a small carrier operating under the umbrella of the U.S. Air Force. Presently housing 11 registered aircraft, it uses a private terminal at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas.

Janet Airlines is responsible for transporting personnel between various USAF bases, with flights often travelling to and from research centres, such as Air Force Plant 42, Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Tonopah Test Range, and the infamous Area 51.

We discovered, thanks to a public announcement in late 2023 seeking a new civilian contractor to service the Janet Airlines aircraft fleet, that these planes fly rather often, with the tender noting up to 190 flights each week.

While the existence of the airline isn't concealed, departures and arrivals occur at conventional airports, and the characteristic paint job of Janet Airlines' planes stands out. They are consistently white, with a red stripe sketched along the window line.

This striking similarity in the paint design, barring the colours, is what has drawn attention to Elon Musk's new acquisition. Adding to the speculation is the fact that all of Boeing 737s held by Janet Airlines (a total of six aircraft) were previously, as with Musk's airliner, owned by Air China.

Furthermore, Elon Musk's substantial partnership with US Armed Forces, including the Air Force, through entities such as SpaceX, isn't a deeply-held secret.

A case in point is the recent mission of the miniature military shuttle X-37b (USSF-52), which commenced its operations on December 29, 2023 and was launched into orbit by a Falcon Heavy rocket owned by SpaceX.