Private flights for Taylor Swift and Elon Musk are now off the radar, thanks to a fresh FAA rule that ensures their privacy.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has implemented a new rule that allows private jet owners to hide their registration information, a move that could significantly impact the ability to track the movements of high-profile individuals who travel privately.
Under the new rule, owners of certain private jets can apply to the FAA for exemption to not publicly display their aircraft registration externally, a practice commonly referred to as "shielding" or "blocking" the tail number from public view. This means that while regulators still maintain oversight internally, public visibility into private jet operations is curtailed.
This change comes as part of a mandate under the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, which primarily focused on expanding the agency's function and improving infrastructure. The FAA is also "evaluating" potentially making personally identifiable information of private aircraft owners and operators private by default.
The update has significant implications, making it harder for the public, journalists, and flight tracking services to identify and track the movements of private jets commonly owned by celebrities, CEOs, and other high-profile individuals. This limits flight tracking by enthusiast sites and the general public, complicating efforts to monitor the locations and movements of notable or influential figures for privacy and security reasons.
The carbon emissions from private flights have been rising in recent years, according to various studies and reports. A 2024 study published in Nature found that high net worth individuals are increasingly using their jets for short flights, with about half of all private flights being under 500km (about 300 miles). A report from The Guardian found that private jets belonging to 200 wealthy individuals made 44,739 trips in 2022, generating carbon emissions equivalent to those of 40,000 average British citizens over a year.
Notable figures have taken steps to protect their privacy in this regard. Elon Musk suspended the Twitter account @ElonJet, which published his jet's flight activity, and offered the account operator $5,000 to shut it down, which was rejected. Taylor Swift filed a cease-and-desist against a flight tracker operator due to her PJ usage being logged.
The FAA emphasizes maintaining safety and regulatory oversight but balances this with privacy requirements, acknowledging the growing demand for confidentiality among private jet owners. The agency has two years to develop a system that would allow private jet owners and operators to hide their personal information, as mandated by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024.
[1] Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) - [https://www.faa.gov/] [4] FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 - [https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2657]
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