NBAA Outraged at FAA's Plan to Eliminate BARR

On June 2, the FAA released a notice detailing its plan to virtually eliminate the decade-old Block Aircraft Registration Request (BARR) program, which allows private aircraft operators to prevent tracking of their flights. The notice is scheduled to become effective 60 days from publication in the June 3 edition of the Federal Register.

The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) has strongly denounced the decision and has announced that - along with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association  and the Experimental Aircraft Association - it will mount a legal challenge to the plan.  NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen, who calls the plan an "alarming development," said it "gives anyone in the world - terrorist, criminal, tabloid stalker, business competitor - the equivalent of an Internet homing device to track the movements of citizens and companies in real time." Bolen pointed out that the move also puts the government on a slippery slope when it comes to privacy protections.

For the time being, tracking information for all aircraft currently enrolled in the program is still being blocked and new blocking requests are being processed.