The philanthropist and novelist owns three jets, two helicopters, and an amphibious prop plane.
Bill Gates’ private aircraft flying has sparked debate. Microsoft entrepreneur turned climate campaigner owns four business planes as his ‘guilty pleasure.’ His $200 million collection includes a luxury Gulfstream G650. He also runs a private aircraft management organisation and invested billions in the world’s largest business jet service provider.
Convenience controversy
Bill Gates wrote How To Avoid Climate Disaster. He calls himself a ‘imperfect messenger’ because he lives in mansions and travels by private jet. Gates took 392 private jet flights last year, more than one every day.
Gates defended his usage of the sole mode of transit in a BBC interview this year. He claimed that buying clean aviation fuel (SAF) and sponsoring carbon capture totally offsets his carbon emissions.
Which jets does he have now?
Gates has several planes, including a helicopter, since his 1997 Bombardier BD-700 Global Express. According to recent public records, the Microsoft founder owns four private jets. His collection includes two Gulfstream G650ERs worth about $70 million each.
The two other Bombardier Challenger 350s cost $27 million each.
Gulfstream going big
Gulfstream G650ER is Gates’ fleet highlight. He flew two of the type for years, one on each coast. The 2018 jets replaced his two Bombardier 700 Global Express jets.
N887WM and N194WM are registered with MENTE LLC in Washington State. WM in the aircraft registration possibly stands for William and Melinda. After meeting in 1987, they married in 1994 for 27 years.
The G650 additional range can carry 11–18 people and has a range of 7,500 NM or 13,890 km. Fuel consumption is 450 litres per hour and top speed is Mach 0.925. The quickest and farthest corporate jet flew between Singapore and Tucson, Arizona, in 15 hours and 23 minutes in 2019.
Gates’ Gulfstream jets include four work, leisure, and rest zones. The plane can sleep ten on hand-crafted leather seats that convert into beds. Over 500 Gulfstream G650s are in operation and have established 125 world speed records.
Last year, he sold his second G650, N194WM. Simple Flying found the aircraft registered to Utah-based TVPX Aircraft Solutions. The company provides trust services to permit US-based aircraft registrations for purchasers not eligible to register in the US, thus the aircraft’s eventual user is unknown.
Jeff Bezos, Oprah Winfrey, and Kim Kardashian own this luxury aeroplane.
Gates owns Bombardier Challenger 350s through a collaboration with NetJets, a company that provides fractional ownership shares in private business aircraft. N769QS and N754QS were manufactured in 2015 and 2018. Class-leading Challenger 350 can carry ten passengers in its largest and quietest cabin. Its highest speed is 0.83 Mach and range is 3,200 NM or 5,900 km.
He modified his little propeller plane late last year. N897WM, a Cessna 208 Amphibian Caravan seaplane, replaced a similar floatplane.
His own heliport
Gates’ Hale Manu floating heliport in Seattle is famous. FAA papers show Gates’ Mente LLC owns two helicopters. One is a 2007 Eurocopter EC 135 with registration N608WM, which he employs around Lake Washington. The second is N-621WM, a 2021 Airbus Helicopters MBB-BK117.
Gates’ Cascade Investment, Blackstone, and Global Infrastructure Partners agreed to buy Signature Aviation, the world’s largest private jet service, for $4.7 billion. While largely using his personal jets for Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation activities, business jet upkeep may be harder to justify in terms of CO2 impact.
