r/aviation Jan 24 '26

Announcement Introducing "Seatbelts Fastened" Mode

177 Upvotes

Hi r/aviation community,

Recently, we’ve seen an increase in political and uncivil comments across several threads, particularly on posts involving aircraft associated with government officials. This has led to more removals and bans under Reddit’s sitewide rules, and we want to reverse that trend.

To help address this, we’re introducing a “Seatbelts Fastened” mode/flair. Posts with this flair (applied manually by the mod team) will restrict commenting to established community members. For now, that means users with at least 100 comment karma in r/aviation. If you are the original poster, your comments will not be affected.

You can view your subreddit comment karma by doing the following:

This will apply to a small subset of threads (aircraft incidents, government-owned/controlled aircraft, global legislation, etc.). The vast majority of posts (roughly 95%) will remain open to all users as usual. Please do not contact modmail requesting comment approvals or exceptions; we won’t be making individual overrides.

Thanks for your understanding and for helping keep the subreddit focused and civil.


r/aviation Apr 19 '26

Moderator Announcement 2026: Updated Rules on Politics

243 Upvotes

OUR RULES ON POLITICS: 2026

IF YOU DO NOT READ THIS POST, YOU RISK BEING BANNED

r/aviation is an aviation-focused subreddit.

All political discussion must be directly related to aviation.

Again, all political discussion must be directly related to aviation.

If it does not clearly connect to aviation, it will be removed.

WHAT IS ALLOWED

We allow discussion of aviation-related regulations, policy changes, and government actions only when they directly impact aviation operations (e.g., FAA/EASA rules, ATC staffing, safety, infrastructure).

Examples:

● “The FAA is proposing changes to ATC staffing. This could impact delays and safety.”

● “New pilot duty time regulations may affect regional operations.”

● “Changes to FAA funding may impact staffing levels and service reliability.”

● “Legislation affecting FAA funding was signed and may impact ATC staffing.”

WHAT IS NOT ALLOWED

We do not allow:

  • General political opinions or commentary

  • Discussion of political figures outside of direct aviation impact.

  • Political insults, slogans, or talking points.

  • “Political-adjacent” comments meant to provoke or derail

  • Assigning political blame or credit within aviation discussions

If your comment is about a politician or political group more than it is about aviation, it will be removed.

Examples:

● “This is what [politician] always does.”

● “Both sides are ruining everything.”

● “This wouldn’t happen if [political group] was in charge.”

● “The FAA is doing this because of [politician].”

COMMUNITY INPUT

We have asked the community directly about political content in this subreddit.

In a poll, users voted roughly 2:1 against allowing broader political discussion.

These rules reflect that feedback, along with our goal of keeping discussions focused and productive.

ENFORCEMENT

Political or off-topic comments will be removed. Repeated violations may result in bans. In high traffic or seatbelt fastened threads enforcement will be stricter.

The mod team all works full time hours, we cannot see everything posted or commented. If you see a post or comment that you believe breaks the no politics rule please report it.

“Just mentioning it” or “adding context” does not exempt a comment from removal.

FREQUENT REBUTTALS

“But aviation and politics overlap”

● Yes. Keep it strictly within aviation context. If it drifts into general politics, it will be removed.

“But I was just explaining something”

● If it introduces political discussion beyond aviation context, it will still be removed.

“Why was I banned”

● You either did not read this post or chose to ignore it.

We all care about this community and want it to stay a place people can come to enjoy and learn about aviation. These rules are here to keep it that way.

-Mid summer update-

We have set up a new subreddit with very relaxed rules for politcal discussion or similar. r/AviationPolitics


r/aviation 2h ago

-- SEATBELTS FASTENED -- Zelensky call Russian airspace closed

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774 Upvotes

In his speech today, President Zelensky warned every airline, insurer, and other actor that the Russian sky is not safe and is reserved for drone operations.

He made it clear that no threats were made against civilian aircraft, but that the war has simply made the sky risky.

He added that he was ready to take all precautions to ensure the security of VIPs coming to push peace talks, as he did last week for CIA Director John Ratcliffe.

Edit : CIA Director John Ratcliffe


r/aviation 7h ago

PlaneSpotting Red Arrows at Oshkosh

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344 Upvotes

r/aviation 4h ago

PlaneSpotting Polish AH-64 Apache and MI-24 HIND

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149 Upvotes

Polish AH-64 Apache and MI-24 HIND flyby during Copernicus airshow in Toruń(30th August 2026). Photo not mine, taken by Artur Ziel, more on their FB profile, including a nice shot of a PZL TS-11 Iskra jet trainer https://www.facebook.com/artur.ziel


r/aviation 17h ago

Question If pilots leave personal messages on the CVR as disaster strikes, do those messages get passed along from NTSB (or airline) to the loved ones?

1.1k Upvotes

I remember reading (like 20 years ago!) about a pilot who said, "I love you, Amy" before a crash (and someone later told me they survived). So I know at least one private message got out,.

I know pilots are super professional to the end, but—if it's pretty obvious it's the end and they have the wherewithal, I've wondered if pilots leave messages... but then do those ever get released to their families?


r/aviation 9h ago

PlaneSpotting UA990-31 SFO->CDG spent all day loading cans for this flight and was able to catch with my camera while leaving for home

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219 Upvotes

r/aviation 6h ago

PlaneSpotting Two German A400M practicing above my home today

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136 Upvotes

r/aviation 4h ago

PlaneSpotting NOAA Hurricane Hunter WP-3D (N43RF) Landing at KLGB

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75 Upvotes

From @OC_Scanner on Twitter...


r/aviation 2h ago

History TU-144 @ Sinsheim

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51 Upvotes

bottom and side view


r/aviation 18h ago

PlaneSpotting What the circular divots on the wings of this plane?

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858 Upvotes

r/aviation 4h ago

PlaneSpotting Yesterday I posted shots of a British Airways A380 at DFW and how they would soon be leaving. Turns out, it was the last BA A380 arrival at DFW (for now).

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61 Upvotes

These photos were taken Sunday (8/30) afternoon as BA193 was landing from LHR. BA192 back to LHR took off Sunday evening, and that was the end of the BA A380 at DFW… for now. I can’t find any news about type service stopping or if they will bring them back.

As of yesterday (8/31), this route is now serviced by the 787-10. I had no idea I caught the last one!


r/aviation 9h ago

PlaneSpotting Some shots from diversions at KRFD

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118 Upvotes

All of these diversions were supposed to be at O'Hare

No, I don't work at the airport, just got lucky and a worker took me inside

The Cathay Cargo 747 is still parked there, no clue when it will get out to O'Hare

Canon T3


r/aviation 1d ago

PlaneSpotting Awesome day at KDEN

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1.5k Upvotes

First time to Denver, on the way there we did a go around on a parallel landing which was cool to experience! Aso got 2 cards from pilots on the way there and back .


r/aviation 1d ago

PlaneSpotting All three in-service passenger quad jumbo-jets in one photo at KJFK (A340, A380, 747)

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2.3k Upvotes

r/aviation 23h ago

Question Pilot-dog reporting for Duty!

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851 Upvotes

Anybody else have some photos of costumes checking in for their flight? This was from my time as a Customer Service Supervisor- at the ticket counter. One of my favorite memories!


r/aviation 12h ago

PlaneSpotting A Philippine Airlines A330 departing Manila, 2024. This plane has recently been removed from the fleet as it will see a new life as a freighter under Amazon. The new registration is N7057K.

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97 Upvotes

Philippine Airlines

Airbus A330-300

RP-C8763

Ninoy Aquino International Airport

7/20/2024


r/aviation 7h ago

History Inertia Reel Demonstration

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31 Upvotes

r/aviation 6h ago

PlaneSpotting A Cebu Pacific A320 in Manila, 2024. The last plane from the fleet to wear the airline's former livery, it has officially retired today, marking the end of an era for the airline's classic design.

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25 Upvotes

Cebu Pacific

Airbus A320-214

RP-C4104

Ninoy Aquino International Airport

7/20/2024


r/aviation 1d ago

News All Blacks test flyover: Airline hands black-box data to aviation officials as safety debate rages

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768 Upvotes

r/aviation 1d ago

PlaneSpotting F-15 flying the Mach Loop with Op. Epic Fury nose art, pics at end (OC)

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772 Upvotes

In July, most of the deployed 492nd jets returned from the Middle East, all wearing new nose arts and kill markings.
Though they were redeployed again soon after, some of the deployed jets stayed home.


r/aviation 11h ago

Analysis August 2026 in aviation safety - An overview (read captions) Spoiler

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62 Upvotes

r/aviation 14h ago

PlaneSpotting NX611 'Just Jane' Avro Lancaster

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81 Upvotes

Went to the Props and Pistons event yesterday to see Just Jane. Been a few times before but it's always good to see. Hoping to have it airworthy by late 2028, which if successful would make it only the 3rd flying Lancaster Bomber in the world.


r/aviation 1d ago

Question In the movie "Marty Supreme" which is set in 1952 characters fly from New York City to Tokyo in a privately owned DC-3. How long would this usually take, and what would the route be?

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2.4k Upvotes

r/aviation 1d ago

Watch Me Fly Man fires up his Rolls Royce RB-211 from an L-1011 TriStar in his backyard.....

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1.2k Upvotes