In an announcement Friday, the FAA said it will no longer require private jet or other aircraft operators to provide a valid security concern as a prerequiste to participating in the Block Aircraft Registration Request Program (BARR).

Screen grab from flightaware.com shows tracking information for a Piaggio P.180 Avanti on a flight being conducted by fractional provider Avantair. Aircraft owners and operators complained that the ability to track the movements of their aircraft violated their right to privacy and also created security concerns.

BARR prevents IFR flight information from being displayed online and until now aircraft operators were forced to show valid security concerns before being allowed to enroll its aircraft in the program. Unless an aircraft is enrolled in BARR, anyone who knows its registration number can track its movements anytime it is flying on an IFR flight plan, using online resources such as flightaware.com.

Aircraft owners and operators may now simply request that their aircraft be enrolled in the program, for the sake of privacy alone.

The National Business Aircraft Association (NBAA), Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) all fought for the change and their respective presidents each welcomed the FAA’s decision.

“NBAA and its members thank the leaders in congress for taking action to address our industry’s long-standing concern that curtailment of the BARR program represents an invasion of privacy, a competitive threat to businesses, and a potential security risk,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “We commend the Administration for working with our industry to implement this change.”

“On behalf of our AOPA members, we thank those in congress and the Administration who recognize the importance of assuring a measure of privacy protection to individuals operating their own aircraft,” said AOPA President and CEO Craig Fuller. “We are pleased to have the BARR program back in operation.”

“We appreciate the efforts of those in congress who acted to preserve the privacy rights of aviators within the BARR program,” said EAA President and CEO Rod Hightower. “We also applaud the efforts of those within the aviation community who worked together on this important issue.”

Earlier this year, NBAA and AOPA filed a court challenge to the government’s curtailment of the program, and the EAA filed a friend of the court brief supporting the suit. It now appears, following a hearing this morning in which a government attorney conceded that the FAA would no longer defend its August policy, that the case will conclude to the satisfaction of the three associations.

“Our associations will keep members advised as we learn further details of these developments,” Bolen said. “In the meantime, we want to thank those in the industry who have supported our efforts.”