Flight Tracking Information

Barr Battle Moves into the Courts

Within days of the Department of Transportation’s announcement that it was all but dismantling the Block Aircraft Registration Request Program (Barr) , NBAA, AOPA and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) announced they would challenge the decision in court.

“We will continue to fight to preserve the Barr program,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen after the FAA published a notice in the Federal Register that it planned to restrict the Barr program severely on Aug. 1, 2011. The program provides any person or company using general aviation a means to opt out of having the details of their flight operations broadcast through aircraft situation display to industry (ASDI) data.

That information, which is disseminated to the public through a number of vendors, includes the location, altitude, airspeed, point of origin and destination of both commercial and GA aircraft, identifying them by tail number and detailing their flight plans. The FAA’s new rule would make Barr unavailable to all but a few operators. 

In typical Washington fashion, the DOT waited until 5 p.m. on May 27, the Friday before the long Memorial Day weekend, to publish a notice that it will strictly limit participation in the program. The three associations are seeking an injunction to prevent the decision from taking effect and will ask the courts to invalidate the new policy altogether.

The DOT is requiring applicants who want to participate in Barr to certify that there is a verifiable threat to a person, property or company, including the threat of death, kidnapping or serious bodily harm against an individual, a recent history of violent terrorist activity in the geographic area in which the transportation is provided or a threat against a company.

“The DOT’s inexplicable decision [May 27] to abandon a widely supported, congressionally enabled policy permitting private citizens to opt out of publicly available flight-tracking applications leaves us no choice but to challenge the move in court,” said NBAA president and CEO Ed Bolen. “The agency appears to have simply ignored the thousands of individuals and companies that voiced their strong and principled opposition to this change.”

Bolen called the move by DOT an alarming development with implications that extend well beyond private aviation. “The government necessarily collects a lot of information about private activities to conduct legitimate governmental functions,” he continued. “This is the first time an agency has claimed the public’s interest in ‘open government’ requires public dissemination to anyone with an Internet connection of wholly personal and private information simply because it happens to be in the government’s possession.

Android Flight Tracker and Flight Status App

Knowing what is happening with the flight you are suppose to be catching can help you to make alternate plans if it is cancelled or delayed. Flight tracking apps aren’t always 100% accurate, but we believe these are among the best that are available.

This Android flight status app is ideal for those who frequently fly on American Airlines. Open up the app to see the status of your flight (arrival and departure times), gate number and seat number along with any delay or cancellation information that may pertain to your flight. You can also use the app as a boarding pass to get on the plane.

Airport parking lots can be huge, so the inclusion of a parking feature is a great way to find your car in a vast airport parking lot once you are ready for it. Other ways you can use the app include:

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Like the other flight tracking apps covered here, you can use FlightStats to view flight information and automatically get flight status updates using, or use the app to track flights in US and European airspaces with an animation that shows an approximate location of the plane on a map. You can also view weather conditions at airports of interest to you or look for alternative flights if yours is canceled or missed, and while you are at it save those that you are interested in for easy one button reference in the future.

If you get the TripIt update you will be able to import itineraries from your TripIt® account making it easier to capture flights, hotels, and car rental details, view your flight’s status, confirmation codes and much more. The app also comes with a widget so you can view flight status updates from the home screen. QR Code

Especially if you are a frequent flyer you will appreciate the multiple trip planner that this app offers. You can enter details of all the trips you plan to take over the next couple of months and have the app alert you if there is a change in the flight status of any of your planned flights. Perhaps the neatest feature of the app is the airport map that shows a delayed status of the flight you are interested in.

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