Elon Musk flies to Waco after a week of legal and regulatory news

Elon Musk flew from Hawthorne, California, to Waco, Texas, on June 18, 2026, aboard his Gulfstream G550, tail N272BG. The two-and-a-half-hour flight arrived at Waco Regional Airport at 1:37 p.m. local time.

The trip comes the same week the U.S. Department of Justice intervened to defend Musk’s xAI gas turbines in Memphis, arguing in court that the unpermitted units are a matter of “national, economic, and energy security,” per Electrek. It also follows the May 18 dismissal of Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI on statute-of-limitations grounds, a ruling he called “a calendar technicality” on X, as covered by multiple outlets. Waco is roughly 90 miles from Musk’s home base in Austin, and the area has been tied to SpaceX and xAI operations.

The flight continues a pattern of short hops between California and Texas. In the past week, Musk’s fleet has shuttled between Hawthorne, Brownsville, and the Bay Area, with the G550 making multiple trips to and from the SpaceX Starbase region near Brownsville. Waco, while less frequent, sits within the broader Texas orbit of Musk’s business interests.