A fleet of six Boeing 737s provides commuter service between Las Vegas International Airport, Area 51, TTR and occasionally Palmdale Plant 42 or other destinations as needed. The airline uses the callsign Janet and the planes are known as Janets. There are also seven smaller Beech Executive aircraft that operate out of the same terminal in Las Vegas. They are also known as Janets and use this callsign. Further down on this page you will find more information on the Beech Janets.
The six 737s make about 10 round-trip flights to Area 51 and 8 to TTR every weekday. Some flights listed below do not operate every day. There may also be occasional flights as needed that are not listed below. There are usually no 737 Janet flights on weekends. The tables below show the flight schedule as of 09/02/2023.
In the summer of 2021 there were about 14 daily flights to Area 51 and 10 to TTR. Based on other observation this decrease in flights does not seem to indicate a decrease in activity at Area 51. A large new housing unit was built there recently. So it is quite possible that operations currently require more personnel to stay on base over night, possibly through the weekend.
Thanks to our ADS-B receivers in Rachel and in Goldfield you can follow the Janets from Las Vegas all the way to TTR and almost to Area 51 on flight tracking web sites such as ADSBExchange or Flightaware. Janets from Las Vegas to Area 51 fly at 14,000ft. and 15,000ft. for the return flight. Flights to/from TTR operate at FL200/FL190. Flights to Area 51 usually enter the ranges at Mercury and head north over the NNSS. In the early mornings, when the 60's ranges are cold, they often take a shortcut entering the ranges over Indian Springs and heading straight to Area 51. Most TTR-bound flights follow US-95 towards Tonopah and then to TTR. When the 70's ranges are cold they sometimes take a shortcut entering the ranges over Mercury and heading north-west to TTR.
Click on the callsigns in the table below for historic flight data.
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This direct flight from TTR to Area 51 operates occasionally on Tuesdays. Janet 75 from Las Vegas to TTR does not return to Las Vegas as it normally would but instead continues to Area 51 as Janet 93. From there it returns to Las Vegas.
Usually it flies down the US-95 corridor like the Janets from TTR to Vegas at FL190. But at waypoint JAYSN south of Mercury it turns north and descends to 14,000ft for the Area 51 approach. Occasionally, if the 70's ranges are cold it flies direct across the ranges at 14,000ft.
Around 2021/2022 there used to be two weekly round trip flights from USAF Plant 42 in Palmdale, CA to Area 51 on Monday mornings and back on Friday nights (Thursdays before a holiday weekend). Plant 42 is home to the Lockheed ("Skunkworks") and Northrop black projects development division. The workers stayed at Area 51 during the week.
More recently there are fewer flights to Plant 42. They operate mostly on Monday mornings and sometimes on Friday afternoons. This could indicate a change in project activity. Perhaps as the project is further along personnel from Plant 42 stays at Area 51 for longer at a time, including weekends to run test. Or personnel at Area 51 has been trained to perform the project tasks there.
Area51/TTR -> Palmdale -> Area51/TTR (Mostly Mondays) | ||||
Callsign | From | To | Time | Notes |
Janet 19 | Area51/TTR | Palmdale | 07:05am - 07:50am | Sometimes Fridays as Janet 92 later in the day |
Janet 29 | Palmdale | Area51/TTR | 08:30am - 09:10am | Sometimes Fridays as Janet 93 later in the day |
JANET99 - Mostly to Kansas City International Airport, MO for overhaul/maintenance or to the Boeing facility at Paine Field, Seattle, WA
The seven Beech "King Air" Executive Aircraft are registered to the same owner as the 737 Janets and operate from the same Las Vegas terminal. Since 02/2021 they also use the Janet call sign, but with a single digit flight number (e.g. "Janet 4" in radio traffic and "JANET04" on flight tracking web sites). The number is the last digit of the aircraft registration (tail number). See our list of Janet Tail Numbers. The exceptions are N20RA, which goes by "Janet 5" and N910CB, which goes by "Janet 10".
The King Airs operate between Las Vegas, TTR and Area 51 and also make somewhat regular round trip flights to the destinations listed below as needed. There is usually at least one such trip every weekday. Most of the round trips originate from and end in Las Vegas. However, since the Las Vegas Janet terminal only has room for four of the seven jets some of them are always at Area 51 or TTR over night and occasionally make round trips from there.
Sometimes one of the King Airs provides support for tests inside the ranges. Around June of 2020 N654BA was outfitted with instrumentation as an avionics test bed. It sometimes flies missions over the Tolicha Peak Electronic Combat Range (TPECR) and in other areas of the NTTR using callsigns like Greyhound 1, Hobo 1 or Sabre 41. N661BA and N662BA have also been spotted supporting missions in the NTTR and R-2508 using the Area 51 call sign Sabre 45 or callsign Greyhound.
Recent destinations
Older destinations seen in the past
During clearance delivery the destination of a Janet flight is given. However, instead of actual names, the following codes are used:
Destination | Code |
Palmdale Regional Airport/USAF Plant 42 (KPMD) | Station 1 |
Groom Lake (KXTA/KTNX) | Station 3 |
Edwards North Base (9L2) | Station 6 |
TTR (KTNX) | Station 7 |
Las Vegas Janet Terminal (KLAS) | Station 9 |