The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently announced a process by which private aircraft owners and operators may electronically request that the FAA withhold their aircraft registration information from public view.¹ Shortly thereafter, the FAA issued a Request for Comments (RFC) seeking public input on the potential impact of removing certain aircraft registration data from public display on the FAA’s website, including through current search functions and published reports.² The RFC notes that “FAA websites receive over one million visitors per month for reports and aircraft inquiries.”³

Background

The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 (FAA 2024) directs the FAA to establish:

1. A process by which, upon request of a private aircraft owner or operator, the FAA will withhold the “registration number and other similar identifiable data or information” for noncommercial flights of the aircraft owner or operator and
2. A procedure by which, upon request of a private aircraft owner or operator, the FAA will “withhold from broad dissemination or display by the FAA…the personally identifiable information [PII]” of the aircraft owner or operator, “including on a publicly available website of the FAA.”⁴

The FAA defines an individual’s PII as:

1. The mailing address or registration address of an individual;
2. An electronic address (including an email address) of an individual;
3. The telephone number of an individual;
4. The names of the aircraft owner or operator, if the owner or operator is an individual.⁵

New Process for Aircraft Owners to Withhold Private Information

Under the FAA’s new process, aircraft owners may submit an electronic request through the FAA’s Civil Aviation Registry Electronic Services (CARES) system to withhold their PII information from public view.⁶ Industry groups, such as the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), applauded this step, noting that publicly available PII aircraft information “has enabled flight-stalking by anyone, anywhere in the world, with any motive.”⁷ Recent examples of flight-stalking include aviation bloggers publicizing the aircraft movements of high-profile public figures such as Taylor Swift and Elon Musk, leading both individuals to express concerns about their safety and to threaten legal action against the bloggers responsible for the flight-stalking.⁸ From a corporate security perspective, these concerns may be elevated following the December 2024 assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, Brian Thompson.⁹

However, the NBAA and other industry organizations, including the International Aircraft Dealers Association (IADA), the National Air Transportation Association (NATA), the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA), the National Aircraft Finance Association (NAFA), and the Aircraft Title Lawyer & Title Company Coalition (ATLTCC) have raised concerns that the FAA’s proposal “could upend the process currently used to facilitate aircraft transactions which rely on access to records maintained by the FAA.”¹⁰ These organizations filed a joint letter on April 15, 2025 requesting that the FAA extend the RFC comment deadline by 30 days “to provide sufficient time to analyze, develop questions to the FAA, and file comments about this important issue.”¹¹ At the time of writing, the FAA has not acted on this request.

The FAA’s Request for Comment

The FAA has invited comments regarding the following:

1. How often do people or organizations access or use registered owner information, and how is this information used?
2. What would be the impact on privacy, safety, commerce, and accessibility of information if the identified categories of registered owner information are removed from public availability?
3. How would the removal of such information affect the ability of stakeholders to perform necessary functions, such as maintenance, safety checks, and regulatory compliance?
4. How should the FAA implement the removal of identified categories of registered owner information from public availability?
5. What would be the impact if the FAA removed such information for private aircraft owners categorically and permitted such owners to request copies of their information rather than removing such information only upon an individual request?
6. What additional aircraft registration data should be removed from FAA websites?¹²

The RFC states, “The most helpful comments explain the reason for any recommended change and include supporting data.”¹³

Next Steps

Public comments submitted in response to the RFC are due by May 5, 2025 and may be submitted via regulations.gov in docket FAA-2025-0638.