Gulfstream G550 N272BG flies from St Louis to Los Angeles in 3 hours 23 minutes

Elon Musk's Gulfstream G550, tail number N272BG, flew from St Louis Regional Airport in Alton, Illinois, to Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, November 5, 2026. The flight departed at 20:16 UTC and landed at 23:39 UTC, spending 3 hours and 23 minutes in the air. The great-circle distance covered was 1,395 nautical miles, or about 1,605 miles. The aircraft averaged a ground speed of 412 knots and reached a top speed of 469 knots. Its highest altitude during the trip was 43,025 feet.

The Gulfstream G550 is an ultra long range jet with a maximum range of 6,750 nautical miles. It can carry up to 19 passengers and has a service ceiling of 51,000 feet. For this flight, the aircraft used about 21 percent of its total range. Celebplanes estimates the fuel burn at roughly 1,386 US gallons, producing about 13.3 metric tons of CO2. That is roughly the same as driving a car 32,960 miles.

This was the ninth landing at Los Angeles International Airport by one of Elon Musk's aircraft in the eight days before this flight. The last landing at Los Angeles before this one was earlier the same day, also by N272BG. Musk's home base is Austin Bergstrom International Airport in Texas, which is 1,077 nautical miles from Los Angeles. His usual destinations include Brownsville, San Jose, and West Palm Beach. In the 30 days before this flight, Musk's five aircraft made 35 flights, totaling 54 hours in the air and an estimated 222,276 kilograms of CO2.

He lives in a rented home near SpaceX's Starbase facility in Brownsville, Texas, and sold all his California properties in 2020. Los Angeles is a frequent destination for his fleet, which includes five Gulfstream jets registered through Falcon Landing LLC. A May 2026 article on celebplanes noted that Musk's aircraft often shuttle between his homes, factories, and launch sites.

The flight from St Louis to Los Angeles is a routine long haul for the G550, which is designed for transcontinental and intercontinental travel. St Louis Regional Airport has a longest runway of 8,099 feet, while Los Angeles International's longest runway is 12,894 feet. The aircraft's previous leg was a 2 hour 53 minute flight from Los Angeles to Alton earlier that day. It spent about one hour on the ground in St Louis before departing back to Los Angeles.

N272BG is a Gulfstream GV-SP model, with over 617 of that type in operation worldwide. Its top speed is Mach 0.885, or 488 knots. Celebplanes estimates the aircraft burns 410 US gallons of fuel per hour.

This flight adds to the 35 tracked movements for N272BG, which has logged 77 flight hours and produced an estimated 302.4 metric tons of CO2 over its lifetime. The aircraft is one of five Gulfstreams in Musk's fleet, which also includes a G650ER, a G800, and two other G550s.

On the same day as the St Louis to Los Angeles flight, N272BG also flew three short trips between Mountain View and Los Angeles. Those flights ranged from 46 to 56 minutes and covered 275 to 277 nautical miles each.