An aircraft's situation according to the available evidence: active, stored, retired, scrapped or, where the evidence is insufficient, unknown.
What it is
Every aircraft record states the aircraft's current situation. A status is never assumed: it is asserted only when there is evidence. For an aircraft to be shown as active, its registration must be current in the official aircraft register or there must be recent activity on file.
Where the data does not support a status, it is shown as Unknown. That is neither an error nor a doubt about the aircraft: it means the information available is not enough to say whether it is still flying, which is better than presenting as active an aircraft that may no longer be.
The status also shapes how its story is told: with an unknown status, the record says the aircraft has operated for an airline, which is true whether or not it is still in service.
On Vuelopedia
The status appears in the header of every aircraft record, highlighted in colour.
Related terms
Cite
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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Aircraft status. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-status
MLA
“Aircraft status.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-status. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Aircraft status.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-status.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Aircraft status. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-status (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_aircraft_status,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Aircraft status}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-09},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-status},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-status}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/aircraft-status |title=Aircraft status |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}