Owners of private aircraft can now ask the Federal Aviation Administration to not publicly disclose their name, address and other data linking them to their planes.
Legislation enacted last year directed the agency to develop a process to accept the requests, a move that could make it more difficult for the public to determine who owns private aircraft and track their movements.
Social media accounts and other services that monitor private planes have become a cottage industry in recent years, offering a proxy for the movements of high-profile individuals or even clues on potential M&A deals.
They've also drawn the ire of some owners of those planes. Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk — whose private jet is widely followed — has lashed out against jet trackers on several occasions. After Musk purchased Twitter Inc., the world's richest man and now adviser to President Donald Trump banned several accounts that monitor the location of private jets, including his own, from the social media site, which is now called X.
Lawyers for pop icon Taylor Swift last year demanded that a prominent jet tracker stop following her private plane, citing safety concerns.
The National Business Aviation Association, a lobbying group, applauded the move, saying Congress enacted the provision in recognition that “flight stalking” raises serious “passenger security, safety and corporate espionage” concerns.
“Security is a huge issue for companies large and small, all across the country,” NBAA CEO Ed Bolen said in a statement.
The FAA said Friday that it will seek public comment on the new measure, including whether removing the information from public databases would affect “necessary functions,” such as carrying out maintenance and safety checks.
The agency is also evaluating whether to withhold private-jet ownership details by default, and provide an option for owners to retrieve their information when needed, it said.
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