Janet (airline)

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Janet and Janet Airlines are the unofficial names of 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, Department of Defense (DoD) civilians, and contractor employees to Special Access Program Facilities (SAPF). The airline mainly serves the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) (most notably Area 51 and the Tonopah Test Range) from a private terminal at Las Vegas's Harry Reid International Airport.[2]

The airline's aircraft are generally unmarked aside from a red cheatline along the aircraft's windows.

History

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]

The first flights from Las Vegas to Area 51 were performed in 1972 by a Douglas DC-6 operated by EG&G. A second DC-6 was added in 1976, and this type remained in use until 1981.[6] Boeing 737-200s were gradually added to the Janet fleet in that same decade, and were later supplemented by Air Force T-43s de-modified to conventional transport configurations.[7][8]

As of November 2023, the U.S. Air Force is looking for a new civilian contractor to operate the Janet fleet. In a solicitation, they outline that a potential new operator would have to operate up to 190 flights per week.[9]

File:(EG & G) Boeing 737-66N N365SR (cn 29891-1294) (6890040081).jpg
A Janet Boeing 737-66N taking off, with Mandalay Bay in the background
File:JanetN319BD.jpg
A Janet Boeing 737-600
File:350pxJanet 737-200 MGM Grand Las Vegas.jpg
A Janet 737-200 departing from Harry Reid International Airport, Las Vegas, Nevada with the MGM Grand Las Vegas in the background

Operations

Due to the airline's secretive nature, little is known about its organization. It is presently operated for the USAF by infrastructure and defense contractor Amentum through the company's acquisition of AECOM's defense contracting ventures. Originally the service was operated by EG&G, and later URS Corporation; this is mainly known as a result of periodic job openings published by URS and AECOM.[6][10] 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.[10][11]

Due to its secrecy, Janet airlines boards at a standalone terminal on the west side of Harry Reid International Airport.[12]

Janet flights operate with a three-digit flight number and a WWW-prefix.[13] In the official publication of ICAO airline codes, this specific three-letter designator is listed as being blocked.[14] The primary airline callsign is simply "Janet," though flights transition to alternate callsigns, called Groom Callsigns once transferred over to Groom Lake from Nellis control. The name typically changes, and the 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".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".

Destination codes

Due to its secrecy, Janet Airlines uses special codes for its destinations.[15] Even the location identifier frequently used as a destination/departure field - TKM (or KTKM internationally) - is not an ICAO code for an airport, but is likely used for Area 51.[16] This location identifier is listed as a tie-in facility for "Tonopah Test Range Base Ops" in FAA documentation, at least as recently as 2020.[17] Not all destination codes are known, but 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

Destinations

Janet destinations, mostly military, include:[15]

Janet Airlines destinations
Country State City Airport Airport codes Notes Refs
IATA ICAO FAA LID
File:Flag of the United States.svg United States California Palmdale U.S. Air Force Production Flight Test Installation (Plant 42) PMD KPMD PMD Also known as Palmdale Regional Airport, as they share the same runway. [15]
China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake — KNID NID
Edwards Edwards Air Force Base EDW KEDW EDW Janet Airlines services the north base. [15]
Nevada Groom Lake Homey Airport — KXTA — More commonly known as Area 51. [15]
Las Vegas Harry Reid International Airport LAS KLAS LAS Template:Airline hub [15]
Tonopah Tonopah Test Range XSD KTNX TNX [15]

Along with these destinations, there have been reports of Janet Airlines filing flight plans to many other airports.[18]

Fleet

since 2015,Template:Dated maintenance category (articles)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". the Janet fleet[19] consists of six Boeing 737-600s painted white with a prominent red cheatline. The fleet is registered to the Department of the Air Force (DAF), while some earlier aircraft were registered to several civil aircraft leasing corporations.[6] 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.[6] Together with the other 737-200s, it was sent to AMARG at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona for storage.[20]

All Janet 737-600 aircraft were acquired from Air China, and four 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.[21]

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.[22][23]

Current Janet Airlines fleet
Type Serial number Tail number C/N Owner Notes Refs
Boeing 737-66N 28649 N319BD 887 United States Department of the Air Force [24][25]
Boeing 737-66N 28650 N869HH 932 United States Department of the Air Force [24][25]
Boeing 737-66N 28652 N859WP 938 United States Department of the Air Force [24][25]
Boeing 737-66N 29890 N273RH 1276 United States Department of the Air Force [24][25]
Boeing 737-66N 29891 N365SR 1294 United States Department of the Air Force [24][25]
Boeing 737-66N 29892 N288DP 1305 United States Department of the Air Force [24][25]
Beechcraft B200C BL-54 N654BA — United States Department of the Air Force [24][25]
Beechcraft B200C BL-61 N661BA — United States Department of the Air Force [24][25] [26]
Beechcraft B200C BL-62 N662BA — United States Department of the Air Force [24][25]
Beechcraft B300C FL-93 N989RR — United States Department of the Air Force [27]
Beechcraft B300C FL-95 N910CB — United States Department of the Air Force [28]
Former Janet Airlines fleet
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 [24][25][29]
Boeing 737-275 20785 N4529W 335 United States Department of the Air Force Retired 7 November 2008 [24][25]
Boeing 737-253 20694 N5294M 343 United States Department of the Air Force Retired 26 January 2009 [24][25]
Boeing 737-253 20693 N5177C 340 United States Department of the Air Force Retired 6 March 2009 [24][25]
Boeing 737-253 20691 N5294E 337 United States Department of the Air Force Retired 17 April 2009 [24][25]
Boeing 737-253 20692 N5176Y 339 United States Department of the Air Force Retired 17 July 2009 [24][25]
Boeing 737-253 20689 N5175U 334 United States Department of the Air Force Retired 10 August 2009 [24][25]
Douglas DC-6B 45219 N6583C — EG&G Retired October 1981 [24]

Accidents

Aircraft Crash site Damage Route Description Time Fatalities Refs
Origin Destination
Beech 1900C
N27RA 		Template:Cvt 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. The pilot then became incapacitated due to sudden cardiac arrest. During the turn, the plane entered a dive before crashing into the ground and bursting into flames as its fuel load ignited. It was later revealed the pilot suffered from high blood pressure, and had neglected to report it. 16 March 2004, 04:01 All 5 occupants [29]

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ a b Contractflygirl.blogspot.com – archived copy of URS Corporation job opening.
  11. ↑ Archive.org – Archived copy of AECOM Corporation job opening.
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Flightaware.com – WWW224, page retrieved 21 February 2013
  14. ↑ ICAO Document 8585, Section 3: Three-Letter Designators.
  15. ↑ a b c d e f g Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Rainer Bexten – Airliners.net – Aerial photo taken at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base. Photo from 29 February 2012.
  21. ↑ Flightaware.com – Delivery flight of N288DP. Page retrieved 21 February 2013.
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".Template:Cbignore
  24. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ N661BA call sign JANET01 on ADS-B Exchange
  27. ↑ N989RR call sign JANET09 on ADS-B Exchange
  28. ↑ N910CB call sign JANET10 on ADS-B Exchange
  29. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

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External links

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