How N-numbers work

The N-number is an aircraft's registration, the way a license plate is a car's, except it stays with the aircraft's record at the FAA and can be moved, reserved or reused.

The format

N, then one to five characters. It can be one to five digits (N1 to N99999), one to four digits followed by one letter, or one to three digits followed by two letters. The first digit is never zero. Letters I and O are never used. One- and two-character numbers such as N1 are reserved for the FAA itself.

Reserving and moving numbers

Anyone can reserve an available N-number for a fee and renew it each year. Owners often reserve a "vanity" number (initials, a company name, a birthday) and move it to a newly bought aircraft. When they sell the plane, they may take the number with them and put a new one on the old plane. That's why a tail number's history can include several different aircraft.

Registration status

A registration is valid for seven years and must be renewed. The registry shows a status code on each record: valid; pending; a renewal notice sent; expired; revoked; or an N-number assigned but not yet on a registered aircraft. An aircraft without a valid registration isn't legal to fly.

Reused numbers

When a registration is canceled, because the aircraft was destroyed, exported, retired or moved to another number, the N-number can later go to a different aircraft. Each aircraft page here lists the number's earlier registrations from the FAA's deregistered-aircraft file.