Newsletter
ES
Sign in

Aviation glossary

Operator history

Also: operators, operator chain

On Vuelopedia

The time-ordered sequence of airlines that have operated an aircraft, with the registration it carried with each and, where known, its owner.

What it is

Over its service life an airliner usually passes through several airlines: it is delivered new to one, leased to another, sold to a third or converted into a freighter. The operator history traces that career stage by stage, with the dates and the registration of each period.

When the aircraft belongs to a leasing company rather than to the airline flying it, the history says so: the operator is whoever flies it and the owner is whoever holds title to it.

This history is the backbone of the record and the basis for deciding who was operating the aircraft on the date of each event.

On Vuelopedia

The operator history appears in an aircraft record, under Operators.

Airlines

Related terms

Operator and ownerDistinction between the operator, the airline that flies an aircraft and is responsible for its operation, and the legal owner, often a lessor or a bank. LessorCompany that owns aircraft and rents them out to airlines for years at a time in return for regular payments, without operating them itself. Re-registrationChange of an aircraft's registration, common when it moves to another country or operator; its serial number, by contrast, never changes. Aircraft recordThe Vuelopedia page devoted to one individual aircraft, bringing together its identity, technical data, operators, flight log and event history. DeliveryThe handover of a new aircraft from its manufacturer to the customer, an airline or a lessor, after acceptance checks and final payment.
Whole glossary

Cite

To cite this page in academic work, an article or Wikipedia, choose the style and copy the reference. The access date is today.

This page was last updated on October 9, 2026

APA

Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Operator history. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/operator-history

MLA

“Operator history.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/operator-history. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Chicago

Vuelopedia. “Operator history.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/operator-history.

Harvard

Vuelopedia (2026) Operator history. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/operator-history (Accessed: 16 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_operator_history,
  author       = {{Vuelopedia}},
  title        = {{Operator history}},
  publisher    = {Fundación Poderia},
  year         = {2026},
  date         = {2026-10-09},
  url          = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/operator-history},
  howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/operator-history}},
  urldate      = {2026-10-16},
  note         = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/operator-history |title=Operator history |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}

Explore the encyclopedia

Homethe record of every aircraftAirlinesdocumented fleetsModelsfrom the Airbus A220 to the Boeing 747Compareup to three aircraft, side by sideManufacturerswho builds the aircraft, and their enginesIVCA Rankingair quality, from 0 to 100Newsthe latest from the recordsOn this dayaviation, day by dayVideosone aviation story a day, on videoAirportsthe world's leading onesAccidentswhat every accident changedTimelinethe whole century, 1903 to todayPeoplewho made all of this possibleOn Screenwhen the airliner was the plotTriviaa daily aviation challengeMemoriesa name in an aircraft's historyPresspress releases and Vuelopedia in the mediaYour profilesign in or create your accountAboutwhat Vuelopedia is and who makes it