Elon Musk spent more than 48 days in the air this year
- Elon Musk’s private jet has logged over 1,161 hours in the air this year
- That’s equivalent to 48 days
- The majority of those 441 flights were spent shuttling between Texas and California
Published on Dec 19, 2023 at 6:39 PM (UTC+4)
by Amelia Jean Hershman-Jones
Last updated on Dec 20, 2023 at 6:01 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Adam Gray
Elon Musk and his private jet have logged over 1,161 hours in the air in 2023 – equivalent to 48 days according to JetSpy.
JetSpy aggregates its flight information using ADS-B data.
ADS-B is a public surveillance technology that broadcasts information – including GPS location and altitude – from one plane to another and with stations on the ground.
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ADS-B caused controversy last year when a college student used it to broadcast Musk’s flight data on social media.
After buying X in 2022, Elon Musk spent the majority of those 441 flights shuttling between Texas and California.
He’s also at the helm of five other co-founded companies, including SpaceX and Tesla.
It’s reported he used to sleep on the Tesla factory floor so workers could see him during shift changes and now sleeps at X headquarters.
And the billionaire obviously isn’t flying commercial.
In fact, Elon Musk owns a fleet of private jets that are worth over $100 million.
His Gulfstream G650ER, registered N628TS, is capable of nonstop flights spanning 8,600 miles – roughly the distance from Somalia to the US.
It’s fitted with a bedroom.
The data was compiled by jet-tracking site, JetSpy showing his activity this year up to 14 December.
Musk also has a second G550 Gulfstream private jet, registered N272BG, according to JetSpy.
A second G550 with the tail number N502SX was registered to Falcon Landing LCC – a company associated with SpaceX and Tesla – in 2021.
The data for the second G550 was not included in the billionaire’s total flying time, as it’s not solely operated by Musk.
Operated by SpaceX and thought to be used to transport company personnel, this jet flew for an additional 630 hours across 246 flights as of the same date.
As the G800 hits the private jet market, Musk has allegedly ordered the recently launched Gulfstream G700 to add to his fleet.
He also once owned a Dassault Falcon 900B.
Since his ADS-B data breach last year, Elon Musk has attempted to cloak his flight information.
He uses a program set up by the Federal Aviation Administration, however, his attempts have proven unsuccessful.
There is no way of knowing the jets’ passengers bar Musk being spotted boarding and his habitual patterns.
In 2023, the average flight for Musk’s two aircraft was just over two and a half hours.
That’s the time it takes to get from Hawthorne, California (where SpaceX is based) to Brownsville, Texas (where SpaceX is headquartered).
Musk’s G650 has taken 166 flights this year.
Musk’s Gulfstream G550 has taken 275 flights.
The longest flight in 2023 was a 13-hour flight to Tokyo in August.
The aircraft’s shortest flight was five minutes with the jet remaining at Long Beach Airport as the private jet pilot repositioned the plane.
However, as many other famous faces do, Musk is said to largely use private airports.
Musk’s jets also took some 11 to 15-minute flights between airports in Hawthorne and Los Angeles – a distance of less than 10 miles.
The billionaire’s jets have emitted an estimated 5,159 metric tons of CO2 over the past year.
To put that into context, the average person in the US is responsible for producing 16 tons, according to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
The jets consumed 538,957 gallons of fuel, costing more than $3.2 million.
Despite Elon Musk’s recent losses, that doesn’t make a dent in the billionaire’s wealth.
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All Supercar Blondie contributors undergo editorial review and fact-checking to ensure accuracy and authority in automotive journalism. After gaining her BA Hons in French and English at the University of Nottingham, Amelia embarked on a vocational diploma from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ). This led to numerous opportunities, from interning at Vogue to being on the small team that launched Women’s Health magazine in the UK, which was named the PPA Consumer magazine of the year for three years running. As Health, Beauty and Fitness editor, Amelia personally received a Johnson & Johnson Award and was shortlisted for both PPA and BSME titles. Since then, Amelia has created content for numerous titles and brands, including the Telegraph, 111 Skin, Waitrose, Red magazine, Stylist, and Elle, as well as being Head of Content at Vitality and Editor in Chief at INLondon magazine. “My superpower is translating technical jargon about the mechanical workings of a supercar into a relatable story you’ll want to share with your friends after you’ve read it.” After joining the SB Media family as a senior journalist in September of 2023, Amelia’s role has evolved to see her heading up the SEO output of the editorial team. From researching the most ‘Google-able’ key terms to producing evergreen content - it’s been a time of hard work, growth, and success for the editorial team and the Supercar Blondie website. “I like to think of myself as a ‘method journalist’. In other words: I live and breathe whatever I am writing about. When writing about fitness, I trained as a personal trainer, and as a beauty editor, I completed an ‘expert’ in scent diploma with the Fragrance Foundation. “During my tenure at Supercar Blondie, however, I did something I never thought possible: I passed my driving test at the age of 36. One day I’d love to train as a mechanic to better understand what happens under the hood, too. “My sweet spot is providing readers with a ‘takeaway’ (read: something new they didn’t know before) after reading every one of my stories. While I don’t claim to be an expert in the automotive world, I know the experts and bodies in the field to rely on to provide our readers with an informative and thought-provoking story every time they visit the site.”
