Flight Tracking - how Private are Private Jets?

In recent years, several high-profile private jet owners have become, shall we say, a little disgruntled with people tracking their movements using open-source flight-tracking apps. Which begs the question: How private are private jets?

Who travels on private jet charter flights

Almost all aircraft will identify themselves on common flight tracking apps, such as Flight Radar 24. Additionally, airports may also show the planned departure and destination of private aircraft. So unless specific restrictions or misdirection are applied, it may be possible to find out where specific private aircraft may have travelled from or to.

What the apps will not show is who specifically is on the aircraft, so from a privacy point of view, personal information would not be disclosed. The problem, however, remains for private jet owners who always use the same aircraft, whereby the registration never changes (e.g G-JETM). Not only can the data on these apps show where the owner is flying to but also where the aircraft has been. This could be a serious issue for clients wanting to keep movement private, for instance, in preparation for an IPO, buyout, or roadshow where the movement of a person(s) could upset confidential information.

So is there a solution to stop being tracked on a private jet?

Well, you could pretend to be a military or political aircraft, or turn off the aircraft transponder (something we definitely would not recommend!).

Joking aside, instead of trying to adapt a stealth mode or flying ‘under the radar', the alternative position is to think of methods of hiding in broad daylight. As such, below are some strategies that could be adopted (other than applying stealth paint to your aircraft).

• As an owner, you could make a formal request for the aircraft to be removed from these tracking sites. The aircraft still might be identifiable, but the course or destination would not be shown, and you could still manually track the movement of the aircraft & owner.

• Make your aircraft available for commercial charter operations. This would not only recover some of the costs of the aircraft, but would also blend charter work into your personal flying, creating an unclear representation of what your flying and private charter flights are.

• Sale of aircraft and move to fractional ownership purchase. Somewhat radical, but some owners have considered selling their aircraft, and instead becoming part owners of a fleet of aircraft on the basis that it is unlikely you will always fly on the same aircraft. This is a simple step in creating anonymity, but your flying could still be assumed, as fractional operators will use the same initial prefixes for their flights. If you are a creature of habit and use the same aircraft model as well, this may also simplify the search process (e.g. Citation Latitude).

• Private Jet Charter using 3rd party operators Using third party operators creates greater anonymity, with the ideology of using a different aircraft each time you need to fly. You are also not committed to an operator, which can make finding a flight a lot harder. or

• A combination of any of the 4 above These would create misdirection for anyone tracking your flight. Some owners are happy to proactively charter instead of using their own aircraft, if their aircraft is being used commercially by a charter client.
  

Will private jets remain private?

We believe so. Yes, there may be events where people try to publish the movements of specific aircraft, but the industry will evolve to retain the right to privacy. We don’t think we will see a total stealth mode for private jets, but instead, like a magician, the art of misdirection may be more effective.

How do we handle your private flights?

At Jet Members, your privacy is our foremost concern, so we will never publicise information about our flights to any third parties without consent.

In preparation for your flight, we will need to submit passport details to the airline and airport, as well as any specific catering and onboard requests. This information is essential for the performance of the charter and to facilitate a smoother process at the airport.

We monitor everything about your flight and, on request, send updates on your trip to anyone you may need to know about its progress (such as ground transportation), including your actual departure and estimated arrival times.

As a process to ensure a high quality of service is always provided, after the flight, it is standard practice to speak with the crew about how the flight went, with feedback on the catering, schedule, and any other particulars important to the delivery of the charter.