Is this walkie allowed to use in the USA?

The question posed—whether a handheld radio capable of receiving air traffic control transmissions is legal to own and operate in the United States, and whether a license is required—touches on a topic that generates frequent confusion among both aviation enthusiasts and working pilots who want a backup means of monitoring frequencies. The short answer is straightforward: receive-only scanning of ATC and aviation VHF frequencies (roughly 118.000 to 136.975 MHz for civil air traffic communications) is completely legal in the U.S. and requires no license of any kind. The FCC does not regulate the act of listening to public radio transmissions, including ATC, police, fire, and most other unencrypted communications, provided the listener does not transmit or use intercepted information for unlawful purposes such as gaining a commercial advantage. This is why dedicated aviation band scanners, and even general-purpose scanners covering the airband, are sold openly at pilot shops, electronics retailers, and online without any licensing requirement attached to the purchase.

Where things get legally sensitive is transmission. Devices marketed as "walkie-talkies" that are capable of transmitting on aviation frequencies—as opposed to true receive-only scanners—raise a different regulatory question entirely. The FCC tightly restricts who may transmit on the aeronautical VHF band, and unauthorized transmission on ATC frequencies by someone without an appropriate FCC authorization (and without a legitimate operational need, such as being pilot-in-command of an aircraft or a certificated ground station operator) is a federal violation that can carry substantial fines and potential criminal exposure, particularly if the transmission interferes with actual air traffic operations. This distinction matters a great deal to the device pictured in the original post: a transceiver-style radio that merely disables transmit functionality via firmware or a locked-out mode is not the same, legally speaking, as a device engineered from the ground up as receive-only. Enthusiasts should be cautious about handheld transceivers that could be modified or unlocked to transmit, since possession of a capable-but-disabled radio is generally fine, but any accidental or intentional transmission on ATC frequencies without authorization is not.

For working pilots, this distinction is professionally relevant beyond mere curiosity. Many corporate and airline pilots use handheld aviation scanners or apps (such as LiveATC-integrated tools, dedicated aviation transceivers like the Icom A25, or general-purpose airband scanners from Uniden, Radioshack-era brands, or Yaesu) as situational awareness tools during commutes, layovers, or ramp operations, or simply out of professional interest in traffic flow at unfamiliar airports. It's worth noting that a pilot's actual cockpit radios are governed under a different regulatory framework entirely (14 CFR Part 87 and the aircraft's station license/type certification), so a personal handheld scanner used on the ramp or in a car has no bearing on aircraft radio licensing. That said, pilots and dispatchers should be aware that even innocuous personal use of a scanner near an airport could draw scrutiny if the device is mistaken for one actively transmitting, particularly in a post-9/11 security environment where unusual behavior near airport perimeters can prompt law enforcement inquiries.

This kind of grassroots question, frequently posted on aviation forums and subreddits, reflects a broader trend of growing public interest in flight tracking and ATC monitoring, fueled by the popularity of platforms like LiveATC.net, FlightAware, and ADS-B Exchange, as well as a resurgence of interest in dedicated aviation handheld radios among spotters, students, and hobbyists. For flight schools and CFIs, it also underscores a teachable moment: student pilots benefit from understanding not just how to use a handheld transceiver in the cockpit as a backup communication device, but also the regulatory line between passive monitoring and active transmission, a distinction that becomes operationally critical in emergency procedures training when a handheld radio may be the only means of communication after an electrical failure.