In 2026, under international aviation laws (and US 14 CFR Part 249), airlines are required to keep flight manifests containing passenger lists for at least two years. However, for most major commercial carriers, the internal retention period is often much longer—typically seven to ten years—to comply with tax, audit, and legal liability requirements. For security and counter-terrorism purposes, government agencies (like the TSA or Europol) may maintain access to these records in their own databases for decades. If you are trying to find a manifest from a 2026 flight for personal reasons, you generally cannot access it due to privacy laws; only the passenger themselves can request their own flight history. For historical research or "missing person" cases, airlines generally only release these documents under a court order or to authorized law enforcement agencies during active investigations.