Sin City has many secrets, but many visitors to Las Vegas completely miss the one right in front of them when they arrive. Hiding in plain sight is an airline that flies in and out of Vegas several times every day, but you can't book a ticket or even visit the terminal. What is "Janet Airlines?" Who flies on their planes? And where are they going?
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 civilians, and contractor employees to Special Access Program Facilities.
The airline mainly serves the Nevada Test and Training Range, most notably Area 51 and the Tonopah Range, from a private terminal at Las Vegas's Harry Reid International Airport. The airline's aircraft are generally unmarked aside from a red cheatline along the aircraft's windows.
The fleet's "Janet" call sign is said to stand for "Just Another Non-Existent Terminal" or "Joint Air Network for Employee Transportation". 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.
Due to its secrecy, Janet Airlines uses special codes for its destinations. KTKM is not an ICAO code for an airport, but for Area 51. As of 2015, the Janet fleet consists of six Boeing 737-600s painted white with a prominent red cheatline. All Janet aircraft were acquired from Air China and were initially taken to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base before being transferred to Las Vegas.