Know How Old Your Airplane Is In Seconds With This Simple Trick

It's not often that you can step into the world's oldest continuously operating airport. That said, it can be often that you step onto an aircraft that's aged a few decades. And if you're ever found yourself looking out the airport window, staring at the different planes, and wondering their age, the truth is that it's actually really easy to tell just how old they each might be. And, no, you don't even have to fly frequently to notice the vessel's subtle quirks. 

In fact, finding a plane's age is all about searching for their registration code. According to One Mile At A Time, you can easily find this code written on the back of the aircraft or under the cockpit window. Better yet, some aircrafts might even have the year already posted above the wheels, just under the front door.

You don't even have to be at an airport to do this. All you need is the aircraft's number and a flight tracking app, such as Airfleets, to retrieve the registration code. From there, this code will reveal the history of the aircraft — including the make, model, any refurbishments made to it, and when it was built. Think of it as when you're shopping for a car and you need to find a full report history. Finding out all the interesting details about your next air vessel is just one easy search engine away.

It's a valid question to wonder if flying in an older plane is less safe than flying in a new one. Thankfully, the short answer is no. Older aircraft are likely to have undergone more maintenance checks than a newer modeled plane, ensuring it stays up-to-date with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) standards. To further calm your fears, Captain Bryce Petersen, known to his more than 30,000 followers on Instagram as @brycepete.thepilot, recently explained that all commercial flights must go through a series of routine inspections, some of which can take more than a month to complete and cost millions of dollars. During these, mechanics check wiring and aircraft structure, emergency systems, and hydraulic lines and leak points, as well as less-used functions and critical backups. These thorough inspections ultimately ensure that nothing is wrong, even if a plane is old.

And what's considered "old" in these cases? Well, an airplane is considered old when it has been in service over 20 years. Per the FAA, in 2023, the average age of U.S. general aviation planes was about 40 years — showing that age doesn't necessarily compromise safety. However, for commercial flights, that number dropped to around 15 years old in 2024 (via Forbes). So, while the majority of commercial planes in the U.S. are sneaking towards an old age, the reality is that they are still dropping under the threshold; though, in actuality, this doesn't mean much. As Captain Bryce notes, you can be just as comfortable flying a 30-year-old plane as a two-year-old plane.