Notices to Airmen (NOTAM) have a new name: Notices to Air Mission.
Effective Dec. 2, 2021, the new name is a “more applicable term” that is “inclusive of all aviators and missions.”
The name change has already been made to many FAA documents, according to agency officials.
The name change is one of many we will see as the FAA reviews its language and strives to make it more inclusive. The agency recently held on online Inclusive Language Summit that addresses some of these changes.
In his story on the summit, Questions From the Cockpit columnist William E. Dubois says of the change to Notices to Air Mission: “Personally, I think Notices to Air Mission is not only more accurate, but really cool-sounding. “I’m not going on a $100 hamburger run, honey, I have an air mission to complete.”
“Dare I say for those of us with the Y chromosome, that’s even more masculine? Heck, male pilots might actually start checking them.”
“It’s also handy that it would allow us to update the sensitivity of the language without dumping the acronym NOTAM that we are all used to.”
Other changes made to FAA language in the same order include many designed to comply with ICAO standards and contractions, including:
- Changes to Field Conditions (FICON) must not be issued for a closed runway in a NOTAM,
- Added verbiage to allow for Simplified, Short ALS with Runway Alignment Lights temporarily changed as NOTAM criteria. Previously, unserviceable was the only option, which did not accurately describe the reduced condition of the ALS.
- Changes also include updated United States NOTAM Office roles and responsibilities, setting the same NOTAM criteria for both Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) and Federal Automated Weather Observation System (AWOS) regardless of who maintains them.
Maybe it should be changed to NOTAH – Notices to Air Humans?
More stupidity from the FAA. I thought it was bad enough when they change taxi into position and hold, or position and hold for short, to line up and wait was stupid. I heard the reason was so International pilots could understand better. Well guess what, if you can’t understand something as simple as taxi into position and hold, you shouldn’t be in the cockpit in the first place! We should be calling for the resignation of the FAA administrator and pilots en mass should be protesting the change.
What air mission?! It’s still mainly equipment moving!
More ridiculous waste of time and money.
FSS/FAA/ICAO are making the NOTAM system incredibly difficult. Using the ICAO term, “US” or unserviceable would seem to mean that it is not able to be fixed, i.e., can’t be fixed. Previously we used “OTS” for “Out of Service,” meaning it isn’t working now, but will be fixed.
NOTAM system is using different abbreviations too. If an airport’s Medium Intensity Lights (MIRLs) are non standard, FSS will use the abbreviation “REDL” and the NOTAM will read “REDL Non Std,” with no hint as to why they are non-standard (NSTD). Could be colors, spacing, non FAA approved fixtures, incorrect height. Do you know what REDL is? Look it up.
Can we still use the expression “straight and level”?
Administrator Dick would not fare well in a personal fight with Captain Julie Clark.
Every government entity except military and air traffic control should have their budget cut 10% per year until they start adhering to the constitution.
The FAA and FBI are two of the most corrupt government agencies. There is probably now way to fix the FBI.
If you don’t believe the FAA corruption search John Doster FAA.
While I agree with you I would stipulate: the CIA is on a world scale and FBI is National. So… let that sink in a bit.
Having read the Flyingmag.com article on the uproar this caused, as a woman in GA, I had no problem with NOTAM or airmen. We see the acronym, NOTAM, with focus on Notice, not gender. In aviation, I have had overall better dealings with men, 99% of whom see me as “just one of the guys” – in that good way – unlike a few Mean Girls who focused on other women’s clothes, shoes, jewelry, hairstyles and weight, as if that made for a good airport professional. Society would do better to address truly sexist language – which I experience more from women than men, and never young men – addressing women as hon, honey, dear, sweetie, sweetheart and darling (even “love,” her explanation that she was from New Zealand), then addressing the next customer, patron, whomever, a man, as sir. A little reasonableness and realism would go a long way.
And thank you to all my fellow GA guys!
Wow, we solve the most important problems first I guess?
The problems with NOTAMs is that the system is terrible. Plan a flight to any airport near Class B airspace and you end up with too many NOTAMs. Many redundant (yes XYZ VOR is out of services so ever STAR that uses it has a separate NOTAM) The light is out on a 206 foot AGL tower 6 miles from the airport is there too! Maybe after reading all the fluff you miss the important ones like Runway 18/36 Closed! And that may be the only runway there.
So true. Last week I planned a short trip under class “B”. I was getting notams for things that were not in the direction of flight.
++1
Sigh.
Quite right, Will🤣🤣🤣
“Political correctness is communist propaganda writ small. In my study of communist societies, I came to the conclusion that the purpose of communist propaganda was not to persuade or convince, not to inform, but to humiliate; and therefore, the less it corresponded to reality the better. When people are forced to remain silent when they are being told the most obvious lies, or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is in some small way to become evil oneself. One’s standing to resist anything is thus eroded, and even destroyed. A society of emasculated liars is easy to control. I think if you examine political correctness, it has the same effect and is intended to.”
― Theodore Dalrymple
Anyone who climbs into an aircraft as a pilot or essential crew member is an Airman; regardless of their sex.
I’d echo the sentiments here.
We are watching the idiots take over every
facet of government. This is one more example. Notams are so cumbersome and often outdated as to be unreadable, ACS/PTS criteria are so outdated it’s embarrassing, safety oversight has flushed down the can (see Boeing) and the silly adolescents are spending resources to ‘ungender’ FAR/AIM/ etc…
Boys and girls, the day my Dad warned
me of is upon us. The republic of the USA is no longer. Undone in a few short months by
our need to place the few ahead of the many and make sure the minority is happy
at the expense of the majority….and our newfound overwhelming desire to
waste resources on inconsequential bs.
Rant over.
Except the minority is never happy.
This politically correct culture is getting out of hand. It has absolutely no redeeming value. One would think that the FAA would have more important concerns.
Good heavens! A NOTAM by any other name still smells, and I’m not talking roses here. When I look at NOTAMS while flying, I always curse under my breath, versus over my breath, on account of the whole “passenger-panicking-because-of-pilot-cursing” syndrome. But really, could the doggone FAA make NOTAMS easier to read? I suspect they couldn’t make them any HARDER to read.
That’s what she said. Wait, that didn’t really work.
Anyway, NOTAMS SUCK, they are hard to read with all their abbreviations and malarkey.
Malarkey, I say
Mission sounds more like something that HAS to be accomplished. Life depends on the mission being done will bring many a pilot to a point of no return and end his life. The military has missions not GA. Seriously what a waste of time and bureaucratic nonsense.
With all the room for REAL IMPROVEMENT FOR SAFETY, our leaders in this administration are wasting everybody’s time and money on this extremely insignificant type of garbage that we have grown to expect from these leaders, and I use that word very, very loosely. If we worried about things that really mattered instead of this trash our industry, and nation would be so, so much better off. Come on FAA, unwoke yourself and do you jobs!
The FAA is waaaayyyyy behind on everything it does, and yet it is allocating resources and time to this garbage? Pathetic!
I guess the “Men’s” room will now be the “Mission” room…
probably more like ‘non-birther’s room ‘ .