Caterpillar jets from Sonoma to Fort Worth post-Q1 earnings surge

Caterpillar's Bombardier Global 6000, tail number N797CT, departed Charles M. Schulz Sonoma County Airport on May 7 at 3:42 p.m. local time, touching down at Perot Field Fort Worth Alliance Airport just under three hours later. The 2-hour-50-minute flight cruised at a maximum altitude of 43,050 feet and ground speeds up to 573 knots, covering the roughly 1,500-mile hop from California's wine country to the heart of Texas.

The timing raises eyebrows: the jet arrived the week after Caterpillar reported first-quarter 2026 results, with sales and revenues jumping 22% to $17.4 billion, adjusted profit per share hitting $5.47. Executives cited AI-driven demand for power generation and construction equipment as key boosters, per a Reuters report on April 30, suggesting meetings at the company's Irving headquarters—mere miles from the airport—might involve strategizing this boom.

Such DFW area visits fit Caterpillar's pattern, its global headquarters relocated to Irving in 2022 from Illinois. While recurring routes favor hubs like Houston's Bush Intercontinental and Chicago's O'Hare for mining and distribution ties, Texas anchors U.S. operations, including Fort Worth offices and dealers like Holt Cat. No prior flights on record for this jet, but the route underscores the firm's steady pivot southward.