Target lands in Chicago after an eight-minute hop from Minneapolis

Target flew from Minneapolis–Saint Paul to Chicago Midway on June 5, 2026, a flight that lasted just eight minutes and reached a maximum altitude of 1,300 feet. The Gulfstream G280, tail number N686BE, departed at 5:07 p.m. local time and touched down at 5:15 p.m., covering roughly 340 miles in what appears to be a repositioning or maintenance flight rather than a passenger journey.

The same week, Target reported its Q1 2026 earnings on May 20, beating expectations with same-store sales up 5.6 percent — the retailer’s first increase in that metric in five quarters, per a CNBC report. CEO Michael Fiddelke, who succeeded Brian Cornell in February, has been working to reverse a prolonged sales slumpched. The Chicago area, home to Target’s second-largest corporate office and a key market for its discount retail operations, is a recurring destination for the company’s three-aircraft fleet.

Recent flights by the same owner include a hop from Chicago to Minneapolis earlier on June 5 and a trip from Dalton, Georgia, to Minneapolis the same day. This eight-minute leg, however, is unusually short for a Gulfstream G280, suggesting a crew ferry or a quick turn at Midway rather than a scheduled executive visit. Target’s jets, while efficient for cross-country travel, occasionally log these brief hops as part of fleet logistics.