The FAA Announces Changes to the Blocked Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) Program

WASHINGTON – The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced today that, effective immediately, general aviation or on-demand charter aircraft owners or operators seeking to keep their aircraft’s registration number from being displayed over public data systems during flight no longer need to submit a Certified Security Concern to the FAA.

As a result of language in the fiscal year 2012 appropriations bill, the FAA is withdrawing its June 3, 2011 policy (76 Fed. Reg. 32,258-32,265) of requiring aircraft owners or operators to submit a Certified Security Concern in order to have their aircraft tail number blocked from view on the FAA’s Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI) or National Airspace System Status Information (NASSI).  

Owners and operators seeking to have their aircraft tail number blocked from these data feeds can now submit a blocking request directly to the FAA without stating a reason for the request. The FAA has already begun receiving requests under the new appropriations language and is processing them.  

This change will be reflected in the FAA’s interim policy which will be posted to the FAA Docket and published in the Federal Register as soon as possible. The FAA is developing a permanent policy that will be posted in the Federal Register for public comment early next year.