Blocking Flights: How it Works
Where most planes fly in the United States is public information. But private plane owners are able to keep their flights from public view using a little-known program called the Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR). The service is run by the private National Business Aviation Association with the cooperation of the Federal Aviation Administration.
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The FAA collects flight plans and real-time plane locations from electronic transponders in commercial and instrument-rated general aviation, such as business jets.
The FAA filters out military and sensitive government flights. Remaining flight data goes into a public data feed called Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI).
Commercial air carriers get real-time ASDI feeds. Smaller, general aviation users and commercial flight-tracking Web sites get a feed delayed by 5 minutes.
General aviation aircraft owners can ask NBAA to block their flight information from public release in two ways.
FAA block – Using a list from the NBAA, the FAA blocks planes from the ASDI feed to flight-tracking Web sites.
ASDI block – Using a list from the NBAA, flight-tracking Web sites block the flights on their own. The blocking is mandatory under an FAA agreement.
Sources: NBAA, FAA