World’s richest man, Elon Musk, may be busy crusading against government waste, but he still had time to reply to a tweet wondering about the flight path of a United Airlines 737 MAX 9.
Elon Musk Thinks United 737 MAX 9 Should Have Traveled In A Straight Line Flight Path…
Ryan Petersen, the founder and CEO of Flexport, a global logistics platform, wondered aloud on X why his United Airlines flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Houston (IAH) was not traveling in a straight line. He was specifically referencing UA2266 on February 25, 2025, operated by a Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft.
Elon Musk responded, “It should be.”
It should be
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 25, 2025
A “community note” was added by other X users explaining, “This route deviates from a direct path of a flight from San Francisco to Houston, there are reasons for this such as winds, traffic, and storm systems that the pilots are trying to avoid. The earth is also curved, meaning the most direct path is not necessarily a straight line.”
Other helpful explanations pointed out that the flight path avoided bad weather and followed the jetstream, giving the aircraft a strong tailwind to save on fuel and flight time.
They managed to catch a direct tail wind both ways. Seems pretty efficient to me. The east bound leg was over 100kts. pic.twitter.com/NBTs2mhGhW
— Adam King (@VickVinegar_99) February 26, 2025
Some of the airspace was also restricted:
There are numerous restricted areas (R-2508, R-2505, R-2515, etc …) that are used for military training.
See attached picture.
The route flew south of the airspace … and we need all the airspace we can get. pic.twitter.com/GbObhPINeD
— Matthew Carlton (@MCarlton_) February 25, 2025
I’m not posting this to poke fun at Elon Musk…I’m just curious why he would respond in the way he did and why he would suggest a flight should be traveling in a straight line…is he just trolling us like the Nazi salute? Because the statement does not give me a lot of confidence, though I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt…
Musk photo: Gage Skidmore
Now wonder he and Trump are buddies. Two men who should have enjoyed their money quietly and kept their mouths shut so that people would not realize how stupid they actually are when addressing things outside of their “boxes.”
Given America….now the idiots will all be screaming on social media that their flight is not going in a straight line so there must be a conspiracy.
If you are trying to give him the benefit of the doubt stop saying he did a Nazi salute. Grow up.
Then what exactly does a Nazi salute look like if it wasn’t what he did? Open your eyes
Have you ever actually googled what a nazi salute looks like? Go search Hitler Nazi salute, then look at Elon, then stop being a clown who regurgitates nonsense propaganda
How do you explain the Bellamy salute?
How do you explain the Bellamy salute?
You know it was a Nazi salute. He knows it too.
Did he not get a pilot’s license? I thought I heard that somewhere. Maybe he just bought one. Idk.
Why buy a pilot’s license, when you can just buy the pilot!
Because you can say you have it. Looked up, it’s true, says he got it in 50 hours, less than 2 weeks. Maybe he just paid attention to what he felt was valuable? Or as Matthew suggested he’s just trolling everyone. Idk
@ Eff Elon and Trump
America, love it or leave it.
America, love it and make it better.
You can’t love America and support Elon and Trump. You need to make a choice.
At this point Elon stories are just printing cash for you Matt from clicks. You should be thankful for Trump and he for this alone, along with the extension of the tax cuts that are upcoming. And they aren’t just for the richest of us, like you and most of the posters here, but they also reduce taxes for the losers who work 3 jobs cleaning our toilets and houses. Assuming of course they are not paid in cash and make enough to contribute to society by paying Federal Income Tax, which is reach in most cases.
America’s most powerful man comments on aviation is newsworthy, not that Matt needs any justification to post on his own website.
Typical butthurt response…
@ Dave — Um, no the 2017 tax cuts were not for the “losers”. The 2017 tax cuts were tax INCREASES for those in the working class.
Correct. Most people I know paid more taxes thanks to Trump.
BS, far left lunatic talking point with ZERO math or returns to show their false claims. You watch that ugly p#say licker on MSNBC too much.
Besides, isn’t this site based on laughing at the “working class” that flies coach on their 1.7 vacations a year? So if a few actually start paying their fair share, that’s a good thing, right?
Who laughs at the working class? Certainly not me or Kyle.
I love the United States and wore the uniform of the USAF…but the country is deeply divided and broken and I fear we are entering Gilded Age 2.0, in which the robber barrons rule. I don’t like that. I don’t like our broken infrastructure or healthcare system, the sort of problems that we could unify to solve together. We show, in tragedy, that we can come together as a diverse people. Why not come togehter now to solve the problems that will only get worse if left to fester?
@ Dave — You are ignorant.
Well he is rich. So in the United States simply being rich makes your opinion on any single topic more valid even if it is a topic you have zero experience or first hand knowledge in whatsoever. What an embarrassment.
Not necessarily. There are measures voted on in elections to raise the taxes of other people so it is poorer people that may be voting to raise taxes on someone else but not themselves. It’s not just income tax but there are local property tax levies.
It makes your opinion louder. And it seems that he’d internally correct himself, never admitting it in public.
This is why Trump likes Musk so much. He’s thinks because he’s rich, he can say any nonsense and people will believe him.
Remember, Musk is the guy who got sued, and ultimately prevailed, in a defamation suit by the guy who was trying to rescue those kids in the cave in Thailand and turned down Musk’s offer of help.
Musk called the guy a pedophile, but he prevailed because he showed that he just throws around words and sentences all the time with no basis in fact.
Mr. Musk, I admire your achievements in SpaceX and Tesla. You shouldn’t have done anything else. Now someone please explain the GREAT CIRCLE ROUTE to you.
I want to see Area 51! Let’s start asking why waste all that fuel climbing up to 35,000?
I guess the phrase describing Trump applies to Musk: his ignorance is encyclopedic.
Sick and f** tired of Musk, Trump and all this MAGA corruption destroying America. Stick to travel. Musk deserves to rot in hell
If you love the government no one is stopping you from writing a gift check to the US Treasury.
https://fiscal.treasury.gov/public/gifts-to-government.html
Hitler was a Democrat.
Comrade Gene – You can go to bed now. It is getting dark in Russia by now.
Calling you an idiot would be an insult to idiots.
Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius.
Javier I loved it. Thank you
CONCERNING!!
Stupid man.
Musk should stick to commenting on things he’s an expert at (to be clear…obviously it’s not having to do anything with flight paths…but that aside, I’m honestly not too sure what that is…).
Very small beer Matthew. Really. Just sell the Tesla and get over it.
Ha! New Flat Earthers have arrived!
Maybe Elon should provide five bullets about what he’s accomplished at Tesla last week and five bullets for Space X. He’s so busy feeding his ego and playing president while destroying our country, he’s not likely putting in any time at his day job. Tesla board should dock his pay.
“Destroyed” lol. If I had known he’d be doing what he’s doing today I would have voted for DJT. To hell with the government.
Actually it’s clear Elon is living rent free in a lot of your heads….obsession much?
Do you really follow every f’n thing he says?
Yes I watch him like a hawk. Because that is how you watch a predator.
I refuse to believe that there are actually intelligent human beings that think Musk gave a Nazi salute.
Walk in to your job in the morning and do what he did… then try to explain that it wasn’t a nazi salute. See how that works for you
And Bannon was just stretching his arms…
How do you explain the Bellamy salute?
I don’t participate in jingoistic flag salutes…
I mean, sure. If you like taking things out of context I can start splicing a million clips and to remove words said prior to a statement or action.
Jeez you people are owning yourselves. Not five years ago Elon was saving the world. Now he’s destroying the country.
To equate Trump or Elon with Hitler is to display a profound and concerning level of ignorance. I can see 17 year olds buying into that garbage- but Matthew you are extremely disappointing.
I love your blog but you’ve gone over the edge in search of clicks. If you really think that was a Nazi salute say so- I dare you. I hope you won’t disappoint me and will stand down from your recent tirades.
No, I don’t think Musk is a Nazi and I don’t think his little wave was a Nazi salute. But I would like to know if he’s trolling us or just stupid with these tweets that I’ve highlighted over the few days.
And see, I didn’t change…he did. He supported Ukraine publicly and provided them with Starlink access, critical for Ukrainain advances over the last three years. Now’s he condemning Ukraine as if they started the war…
Last I checked, Russia still started the war. Paying US taxpayers back for the Ukraine funding is a very different thing than pulling all support for Ukraine…
Can you address that?
But Bannon…that appeared to me to be a Nazi salute. And yes, that does concern me.
You certainly implied that you thought Musk gave a Nazi salute: “…is he just trolling us like the Nazi salute?”
Yeah, it appears to be a Nazi salute. I just don’t think Musk is a Nazi (unlike Bannon). Maybe I’m just naiive.
You ate just noticing the what many believed to be true is not. You will be fine. Please don’t blame others. We all own are part and we will fix it. Promise
He’s trolling you. Just as you have been trolling your followers.
I don’t support abandoning Ukraine. Putin is a monster IMO and Trump is wrong not to stand publicly and strongly against him. I support funding Ukraine to the greatest degree we can but I will remind you- we are 37 TRILLION dollars in debt. Is that what you want to leave your kids?
Bannon is just a big as loonie as Maddow or Joy Reid. I don’t spend a minute concerning myself with them and don’t think anyone should. This should be- and I have always loved it as- a travel blog. If you want to make it political I will remind you of what Johnny Carson once said- lose half your audience. Get over this Musk BS Matthew. He’s a whack job genius and in the end I hope he’ll probably do a lot better for the World than he did bad. Very, very few of us could care less about what he said about an airplane’s flight path. For you to comment on that is kind of weird. All of us say stupid things sometimes.
Hypocrite. Check the archives. Years of your hateful racist political comments against democrats. It was fine for you then but when your heroes are questioned you wish to silence us. Live and learn
Musk is the Henry Ford of our time
On a recent trip to Switzerland Instead of heckling some newly minted Ukrainian couple in Russian in front of their 7 year old son who speaks perfectly good English by now in his 3rd year in boarding school I opted to clap , applaud , and salute a family driving a Tesla down a narrow road.
Musk displays his ignorance for all to see.
More embarrassing for Petersen than Musk — how are you the CEO of a global logistics company but possess less knowledge of basic aviation than a teenage enthusiast? The way these blue-check founders are constantly hurr-durring on Twitter in hopes that Musk will chime in with his own hurr-durr is so pedestrian and diminishes what little credibility these people have left.
Maybe if Elon gets his way, we’ll finally get to fly over Area 51!
Cairns, I agree. When Elon was a lib he was ok as far as the left-wingers go! Now that he is on the other side he is nowsooooooevil.,! It’s the Elon derangement syndrome now vs TDS!
No, Dee. I haven’t changed. Musk has. And going from supporting Ukraine to supporting Russia is not a left-right issue. Being opposed to permanently dismantling government agencies when a forensic accountant is needed to find waste is not a left-right issue. There’s so much waste. But you don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater. Not a left-right issue…
I’m thrilled has the time to opine on thing like this and reorder a multitrillion dollar economy. He must be a genius.
You SHOULD be posting it to make fun of Elon Musk. This is a man so completely warped by his own social media platform that he just thinks he should opine on everything and anything.
Not to mention, there is a policy angle. He is claiming that DOGE is going to modernize the air traffic control system.
Maryland- F off- with all due respect. I saw what Vance and Trump did to Zelensky today and am appalled. I’ll call both sides out whenever I want to.
And FWIW I haven’t even been on this site for years.
I don’t think she meant you – she was referring to others.
You are most welcome here. I appreciate that you don’t go running kicking and screaming like so many have who support Trump and stopped reading this blog for me expressing conservative principles that do not happen to align wtih the Trump policy. My viewpoint will either change your mind or reinforce your own views and make them stronger. Either way, you win by engagement. We all need to better engage and listen to one another.
Matthew
I can’t thank you enough for saying that and I can’t tell you how much I much I appreciate your blog. You are living a life I wish I could and I live vicariously through you- quite often.
Politics brings out the worst in us all. But yet, and I still think this, sometimes the best. I agree- let’s engage. (but not like bullies which Trump and Vance did today).
FWIW I’m spending my last night in Maui in a stunning house on a long holiday and heading home on UAL tomorrow, The food still sucks but it has improved. Lots of what they call VLOG here the last two days.
Aloha and mahole.