TailLookup

How to find out who owns a plane (by tail number)

TailLookup · updated Jul 7, 2026

To find out who owns a plane, look up its tail number in the FAA registry data: US aircraft ownership is public record. TailLookup shows the registered owner (person, company, or trustee) with city and state for any N-number free, and can list every aircraft registered to the same owner.

US aircraft ownership is public. The FAA’s registry lists a registrant — a person, company, or trustee — for every one of the ~315,000 aircraft currently registered.

Look it up

Search the tail number on TailLookup: the record shows the current registrant and location, and links to that owner’s entire registered fleet. You can also search by owner name directly — typing “Delta Air Lines” surfaces the airline’s 1,100+ registered aircraft.

When the “owner” is a trustee

Many aircraft are registered via trustee arrangements — a bank or trust company holds legal title, commonly for non-US citizens (US registration requires citizenship) or for privacy. TailLookup flags these registrations “via trustee”; the operator behind the trust isn’t in the public record.

Privacy withholding

Under the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act, owners can ask the FAA to withhold their personal information from the public registry. When the FAA withholds it, it disappears from the published data — and from TailLookup with the next daily snapshot. See our privacy & removal policy.

Frequently asked

Can aircraft owners hide their names?
Partly. Owners can register through trustee arrangements (a bank holds legal title), and under the 2024 FAA Reauthorization Act they can ask the FAA to withhold personal information from the public registry.
Can I search by owner name instead of tail number?
Yes. Searching a person or company name on TailLookup lists every aircraft currently registered to that name — for example, an airline's entire registered fleet.
Does the registry show the aircraft's operator?
Not necessarily. The registrant is the legal title holder, which may be a leasing company or trustee rather than whoever actually operates the aircraft.

Cite: TailLookup, “How to find out who owns a plane (by tail number)”, https://taillookup.com/guides/find-aircraft-owner (updated 2026-07-07).

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Registration, ownership, and NTSB accident history for every US tail number.

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