A turn of events this month has shown the blatant hypocrisy of the FAA in allowing, or disallowing, private aircraft operators to suppress their flight information from online flight tracking services. The FAA is being two-faced and deserves to be called out on it. Early this month–on August 2, to be exact–the FAA dismantled the Block Aircraft Registration Request (Barr) program that previously allowed any aircraft operator–no questions asked–to block its aircraft tail numbers, and thus its flights, from public view on the online flight tracker services. It has now been replaced by the new FAA Certified Security Concern (CSC) list, which technically still allows aircraft blocking but only if operators can show a “verifiable threat to person, property or company, including the threat of death, kidnapping or serious bodily harm against an individual, a recent history of violent terrorist activity in the geographic area in which the transportation is provided, or a threat against a company.”
Chad is the editor of AINalerts, AIN's daily business aviation newsletter, and is also the news editor at AIN Media Group. He has been writing about aviation, with an emphasis on business aviation, since 1994. Chad started his writing career at The Avion, the student newspaper at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, serving as editor-in-chief before graduating with a bachelor's in aeronautical science. After a stint as managing editor at Professional Pilot magazine, he joined AIN in late 1998. Chad holds a commercial pilot certificated with instrument and multi-engine ratings, and he also is a CFI/CFII. He lives and works from his home in Venice, Florida.
