In recent years, there has been significant concern among private jet owners wishing to keep their travel information confidential. This concern is rooted not only in personal privacy but also in security issues. Additionally, public scrutiny over carbon emissions from private jets has added pressure on owners. In response, President Biden passed a new law enabling private jet owners to travel with greater privacy.
The new legislation builds on existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs aimed at reducing the tracking of private jet flights. It allows aircraft owners to withhold their data from public sites by flying under temporary registration and blocking information except when legally required.
Previously, all US-registered aircraft had accessible registration and owner information through the FAA’s civil registry. To obscure ownership details, some resorted to registering their planes under shell companies or LLCs.
The FAA now offers several programs that enhance privacy for private jet owners:
1. **Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed (LADD)**: This program enables aircraft owners or operators to filter flight data from distribution via the FAA System Wide Information Management (SWIM) data feed or from public display by participating websites.
2. **Privacy ICAO Aircraft Address Program (PIA)**: This initiative limits real-time ADS-B position and identification information availability for specific US-registered aircraft equipped with 1090 MHz ADS-B flying within US-managed regions. Under the new law, PIA applicants can now travel internationally.
Despite these measures, complete anonymity is challenging due to non-FAA third parties like ADS-B Exchange that collect global receiver data presenting real-time information such as airspeed, altitude, and flight details from non-encrypted ADS-B transponders.
Gitman concludes that while the new law and FAA programs will enhance privacy for private jet owners significantly more than before, achieving total invisibility remains difficult due to transparency needs balanced against privacy concerns.
David Gitman is president of Monarch Air Group.
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