The JANET Edition

Colin here. I was taxiing out of Las Vegas recently when I saw a series of unmarked white jets on the tarmac, all with a bold red line. I’d seen them from hotel windows on the strip in years past, and had vaguely heard about their role: ferrying workers into highly compartmentalized sites in the desert. It was fun to dig back in and understand a bit of the intrigue around what these planes are and what they do.

According to Insider:

Turns out the US government has a secret passenger airline. Area 51 workers are shuttled in from the Las Vegas airport every day on the passenger jets, which are owned by the US Air Force. The fleet is made up of 11 planes, and is commonly referred to as JANET airlines. While some joke JANET stands for "Just Another Non-Existent-Terminal," it may actually mean "Joint Air Network for Employee Transportation."

The airline has operated since the 1970s out of a hangar at McCarran Airport, adjacent to the private flight terminals. It is estimated to ferry around 1,500 passengers per day to testing sites run by the department of energy. And while there is rampant speculation as to what happens at Area 51 and other secret sites, one could surmise experimental aircraft (and munitions) are being tested. Storied aircraft like the U-2 spy plane, the SR-71 Blackbird (which could read a number off of a golfball from 40,000 feet), as well as the  F-117 and many others can all trace lineage back to the remote air strip.

Why is this interesting? 

Setting aside the intrigue of where the plane actually flies, the day-to-day operations of this mysterious private airline is fascinating. Mainly, how do you get up to 1,500 staff to work at Groom Lake and Area 51 (and elsewhere) every day in a secure way? These are sensitive weapons experts, engineers, and the brains behind some of the most sophisticated R&D work. So, as one might assume, the security has to be tight. In fact, even the flight attendants have to hold a top secret clearance due to things they could overhear and the people they meet. Sofrep explains:

Along with the normal requirements expected of any flight attendant, JANET attendant positions also require that candidates qualify for not only a Top Secret security clearance, but likely have to withstand further scrutiny based on the requirements of the position. In other words, JANET staff may be subjected to more thorough vetting than the president’s national security advisors, all to serve coffee to morning commuters.

It is interesting to observe that, moments from the hedonism and excess of the strip, commuters step in and out of some of the most sensitive and storied areas in the world. (CJN) 

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Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) 

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