Aside from military and government sensitive flights, flight information collected by the FAA is considered public information because taxpayers pay for air traffic controllers, runways, towers, and other resources utilized by both commercial and private pilots.

Yes, flight numbers are public information and are considered part of the "open data" used by the global aviation industry. A flight number (e.g., AA123) is a commercial identifier assigned by an airline to a specific route and schedule. These are published months in advance in Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and are available to anyone via airline websites, airport departure screens, and flight-tracking apps like FlightAware or Flightradar24. While the flight number itself is public, it is often confused with an aircraft's "Tail Number" (Registration), which is also public and functions like a car's license plate. However, some aspects of flight data can be kept private; for example, private jet owners can request to have their specific tail numbers "blocked" from public tracking through programs like the FAA’s LADD (Limiting Aircraft Data Displayed). But for commercial airline flights, the flight number, the scheduled times, and the real-time location of the aircraft are all widely accessible to the general public for safety, logistics, and transparency reasons.