Does the government track your flights?

All persons traveling on flights to, from, or through the United States will be affected by this program. If you travel on flights arriving in or departing from the United States (even if you are simply transiting through the United States), CBP may receive PNR data concerning you.



Yes, the government—specifically aviation authorities like the FAA in the U.S. and Eurocontrol in Europe—tracks virtually every commercial and private flight in real-time. This is primarily done through ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) technology, which has been mandatory for most aircraft since 2020. Aircraft equipped with ADS-B "Out" automatically broadcast their precise GPS position, altitude, and speed once per second to a network of ground stations and satellites. This data is used by air traffic control to ensure safe separation and efficient routing. While private jet owners can request to be "blocked" from public tracking websites like FlightAware (via the LADD program), the government still has the data for security and safety purposes. In 2026, this high-fidelity surveillance is a cornerstone of the "NextGen" air traffic system, allowing the government to monitor the national airspace with far greater accuracy than traditional radar, which is being phased out as the primary method for tracking civilian and government flight paths.

People Also Ask

U.S. law requires air carriers operating flights to, from, or through the United States to provide the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), with certain passenger reservation information, called Passenger Name Record (PNR) data.

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In accordance with the underlying statutory framework (49 USC Chapter 441) and as described in the applicable SORN, the information maintained in the aircraft record is available to the public upon request.

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How long are airline records kept? That depends. Documents used for each flight must be stored for at least 90 days. Documents used for maintenance are stored as long as the aircraft or relevant part exist/are in service.

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You can also track a flight via the airline's app by navigating to the Flight Status tool (you can also find this on an airline website). Though each airline has its own tracking features, they typically show the departure and arrival times, gate information, altitude, and map of where the plane is located.

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CBP and DHS officials responsible for identifying illicit travel and preventing and detecting terrorism and certain transnational crimes will have access to PNR data derived from flights to, from, or through the United States.

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PNR data can only be kept for a period of 5 years, and must be depersonalised after a period of 6 months so the data subject is no longer immediately identifiable. member states are required to establish a passenger information unit to handle and protect the data; this unit must include a data protection officer.

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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.

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Airlines record information for each passenger who books or checks in for a flight, including the date the reservation was made, the passenger's contact details and baggage information. This information is called the passenger name record (PNR).

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What Information Do Immigration Officers in the U.S. Have?
  • Name.
  • Country of citizenship.
  • Home address.
  • Date of birth.
  • Method of travel.
  • Purpose of travel.


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If you have been denied entry with a visa, you have the right to: An exclusion hearing before a judge to determine your admissibility; An administrative appeal to the Board of Immigration Appeals; A judicial review or appeal of any, or all, of the above decisions.

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FlightAware makes record keeping, fact checking, and logbook maintenance easy by giving you historical flight data from 3, 5, or 8 months back.

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Most airliners are monitored by controllers using radar in airways and routes known as 'controlled airspace'. The majority of airspace that is left is known as 'uncontrolled' and this is used by the military and recreational pilots.

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According to USA Today, the common cruising altitude for most commercial airplanes is between 33,000 and 42,000 feet, or between about six and nearly eight miles above sea level. Typically, aircraft fly around 35,000 or 36,000 feet in the air. To put that in perspective, the peak of Mount Everest measures 29,029 feet.

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Free, live flight tracker and flight status app from FlightAware for Android! This app allows you to track the real-time flight status and see the live map flight track of any commercial flight worldwide and general aviation (private, charter, etc) in the United States and Canada.

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Flightradar24 has a rapidly growing network of 35,000 ground stations around the world to receive this data that then shows up as aircraft moving on a map in the app.

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Running since 1929, Hawaiian is among the oldest airlines in the world but, remarkably, it has never suffered a single fatal crash or hull loss.

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September 24, 2023 A single-engine Beechcraft BE23 crashed in a field near Roger M Dreyer Memorial Airport in Gonzales, Texas, around 7:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, September 24. Only the pilot was on board. The FAA and NTSB will investigate.

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