October 09, 2011, 8:31 PM
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- To the alarm of America's businesses, the public can now see where their private planes are headed.
The Federal Aviation Administration has sharply curtailed a program that protected executives' privacy for more than a decade by shielding the itineraries of private planes.
The FAA said in August that the government must uphold "a presumption of openness." Only if companies show a "valid security threat" can they continue blocking flights from websites that display air traffic.
The change puts private aircraft under the same scrutiny as commercial flights. And it has touched off a furious debate between corporations and advocates of openness, including many shareholders' groups.
More:
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/10/flight_paths_of_corporate_jets_now_visible_to_everyone.html