Janet, sometimes called Janet Airlines, is the unofficial name given to a highly classified fleet of passenger aircraft operated for the United States Department of the Air Force[1] as an employee shuttle to transport military and contractor employees to Special Access Facilities (SAPF). Its purpose is to pick up employees at their home airports and take them to their places of work. Then, they take the employees back to their home airports in the afternoon. The airline mainly serves the Nevada National Security Site (most notably Area 51 and the Tonopah Test Range) from a private terminal at Las Vegas's Harry Reid International Airport.[2]
![]() A Janet 737-66N | |||||||
| |||||||
Commenced operations | March 1972 (1972-03) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hubs | Harry Reid International Airport | ||||||
Focus cities |
| ||||||
Fleet size | 13 | ||||||
Destinations | 18 | ||||||
Parent company | Department of the Air Force | ||||||
Headquarters | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
The airline's aircraft are generally unmarked but have a red cheatline along the aircraft's windows, which hints at Janet being the operator.
The fleet's "Janet" call sign is said to stand for "Just Another Non-Existent Terminal"[3][4] or "Joint Air Network for Employee Transportation".[5]
After the October 2017 Las Vegas shooting massacre, news surfaced that the shooter, in addition to firing at concertgoers, had also targeted aviation fuel tanks at nearby McCarran International Airport (now Harry Reid International Airport). Further reporting by the New York Post suggested a possible connection between the vulnerable fuel tanks and a classified Janet operation.[6]
Due to the airline's secretive nature, little is known about its organization. It is operated for the USAF by infrastructure and defense contractor AECOM through AECOM's acquisition in 2014 of URS Corporation, which acquired EG&G Technical Services in 2002, as derived from URS's history of providing this service to the Air Force and job openings published by URS.[7][8] For example, in 2010, URS announced it would be hiring Boeing 737 flight attendants to be based in Las Vegas, requiring applicants to undergo a Single Scope Background Investigation in order to be able to obtain a security clearance.[8] More recently, AECOM has posted similar openings.[9]
Due to its secrecy, Janet airlines boards at a special part of Harry Reid International Airport. They board planes at the airport's west side, next to the Janet Airlines passenger parking lot. There is also a small terminal building for passengers.[10]
Janet flights operate with a three-digit flight number and a WWW-prefix.[11] In the official publication of ICAO airline codes, this specific three-letter designator is listed as being blocked.[12] The official airline callsign is simply Janet. However, the airline also uses different callsigns, called Groom Callsigns once transferred over to Groom Lake from Nellis control. The callsign name would change, and the callsign number will be the last 2 digits of the flight number +15. For example, if the callsign were Janet 412 and were transferred to Groom Lake control, the callsign would be something like "Bunny 27".
Due to the secrecy of the airline, Janet Airlines uses special codes for their destinations.[13] They use this to mask the destination. KTKM[further explanation needed] is not an ICAO code for an airport, it is actually the code for Area 51. Not all codes are known. However, the following are listed:
Airport | Code |
---|---|
U.S. Air Force Production Flight Test Installation (Plant 42) | Station 1 |
Area 51 | Station 3 |
Basecamp | Station 6 |
Tonopah Test Range | Station 7 |
Janet Terminal (Harry Reid International Airport) | Station 9 |
Janet destinations, mostly military, include:[13]
Along with these destinations, there have been reports of Janet Airlines filing flight plans to many other airports.[17]
The first flights from Las Vegas to Area 51 were performed in 1972 by a Douglas DC-6 operated by EG&G. A second Douglas DC-6 was added in 1976 and this type remained in use until 1981.[7]
As of mid-2015, the Janet fleet[18] consists of six Boeing 737-600s painted white with a prominent red cheatline. The fleet is registered to the Department of the Air Force, while some earlier aircraft were registered to several civil aircraft leasing corporations.[7] Before the arrival of the 737-600s, Janet operated Boeing 737-200s, some of which were modified from military T-43A aircraft. One of the 737-200s with registration N5177C in the 1980s was briefly based in Germany at Frankfurt International Airport (which was at the time also home to a USAF base, Rhein-Main Air Base), and operated by Keyway Air Transport, apparently a front company for a US government operation. It was retired on 6 March 2009.[7] Together with the other 737-200s, it was sent to AMARG at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona for storage.[19]
All Janet 737-600 aircraft are ex-Air China and with the exception of N273RH and N365SR which were previously operated by the now defunct China Southwest Airlines before being acquired for US Air Force operations starting in 2008. The aircraft were initially taken to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base before being transferred to Las Vegas.[20]
One aircraft, a Beechcraft 1900, was lost on 16 March 2004, when it crashed on approach for Tonopah Test Range Airport after the pilot suffered sudden cardiac arrest. Five people, including the pilot, were killed in the accident.[21][22]
Type | Serial number | Tail number | C/N | Owner | Notes | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Boeing 737-66N | 28649 | N319BD | 887 | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Boeing 737-66N | 28650 | N869HH | 932 | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Boeing 737-66N | 28652 | N859WP | 938 | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Boeing 737-66N | 29890 | N273RH | 1276 | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Boeing 737-66N | 29891 | N365SR | 1294 | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Boeing 737-66N | 29892 | N288DP | 1305 | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Beechcraft 1900 | UB-42 | N20RA | — | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Beechcraft 1900C | UC-163 | N623RA | — | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Beechcraft B200C | BL-54 | N654BA | — | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Beechcraft B200C | BL-61 | N661BA | — | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Beechcraft B200C | BL-62 | N662BA | — | United States Department of the Air Force | [23][24] | |
Beechcraft
B300C |
N989RR | — | United States Department of the Air Force | |||
Beechcraft B300C | N910CB | — | United States Department of the Air Force | |||
Type | Serial number | Tail number | C/N | Owner | Fate | Retired | Refs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Beechcraft 1900C | UB-37 | N27RA | — | United States Department of the Air Force | Crash | 16 March 2004 | [23][24][25] |
Boeing 737-275 | 20785 | N4529W | 335 | United States Department of the Air Force | Retired | 7 November 2008 | [23][24] |
Boeing 737-253 | 20694 | N5294M | 343 | United States Department of the Air Force | Retired | 26 January 2009 | [23][24] |
Boeing 737-253 | 20693 | N5177C | 340 | United States Department of the Air Force | Retired | 6 March 2009 | [23][24] |
Boeing 737-253 | 20691 | N5294E | 337 | United States Department of the Air Force | Retired | 17 April 2009 | [23][24] |
Boeing 737-253 | 20692 | N5176Y | 339 | United States Department of the Air Force | Retired | 17 July 2009 | [23][24] |
Boeing 737-253 | 20689 | N5175U | 334 | United States Department of the Air Force | Retired | 10 August 2009 | [23][24] |
McDonnell Douglas DC-6B | S60A-3079 | N6583C | — | EG&G | Retired | October 1981 | [23] |
Aircraft | Crash site | Damage | Route | Description | Time | Fatalities | Refs | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Origin | Destination | |||||||
Beech 1900C N27RA | 7 mi (11 km) southeast of Tonopah Test Range Airport | W/O | — | Tonopah Test Range Airport | During approach, the pilot reported runway-in-sight, and entered a circle pattern. Then, the pilot became incapacitated due to sudden cardiac death. During the turn, the plane's nose gradually dipped down, and eventually smashed into the ground. The plane broke up, igniting fuel which burst into flames. It was later revealed the pilot had high blood pressure, and neglected to report it. | 16 March 2004, 04:01 | All 5 occupants | [25] |